Dragonballz: The Suikoden Style
by Tortured Soul Tsion
Summary: Jin wakes up and finds himself......i won't spoil the surprise!Read and review....please no flames this is a work in progress thing..
1. Prologue

Prologue  
  
It was a somber beginning. The headmaster of the Capsule Corps. Nexus warrior's academy at which I was attending had fallen in battle against the leader of the dreaded Cold Empire, and so all of the academy's gangs fought over control of the academy. I was the second in command of the Outsiders gang, the strongest in the academy and we easily took control of the academy. The leader of the Outsiders, Joel, was a level five student, one of the elite. He was like an older brother to me and I looked up to him greatly. I was only at level two at the time, the strongest a human being could become, so Joel said and I was obliged to believe him. That, however, didn't dissuade me from trying to prove him wrong.  
Everything was going fine for a few months, until I learned that my 'idol', Joel was selling off the weak human students to the Cold Empire to be used in experiments. Of course I became enraged and confronted him about it. He denied it at first and then upon seeing how adamant I was about finding the truth, he grew annoyed and took out all of his frustrations on me, beating me to a pulp and showing me exactly why he had made it to level five. Then he sold me to the Cold Empire as well.  
I was tortured severely and was used for countless tests and experiments over a period of a year, an extremely traumatic experience for any fourteen year old. The countless painful procedures I underwent drained me and decreased my already low powerlevel further. In my weakened state, on the verge of death, I was of no use to my new 'owners', so I was shipped out to an unknown planet and left for dead, the only thing keeping me alive was my burning desire to see Joel pay for what he had done to me. This planet was unknown but far from uninhabited. A peace loving, green skinned alien race found me and nursed me back to perfect health. Although these Nameks, as the aliens were called, were peaceful folk, that didn't mean they were defenseless. They were a lot stronger than they appeared. They were masters of many styles of martial arts and skillful at the manipulation of ki. Under their tutelage, I learned to use ki and strengthened my body with one aim in mind, to defeat...no to kill Joel. After a year of intense training I had surpassed the power and skill required to be considered level five at the academy, proving Joel wrong. It was ironic, because Joel was the only reason I had achieved it. I thanked my teachers and made my way, alone, across the universe back to the academy. For revenge...  
I had changed much in those two years. I had grown taller and my already light brown skin had been seriously tanned under the constant Namekian sun. I let my hair grow into a mini Afro and my muscles were much more defined. Also my personality had changed. I was no longer the fun loving, happy go lucky kid that worshipped others. I was a loner, an anti social, confident person who cared about no one and who didn't need approval from anyone else to make him happy. I had a purpose, and I would not be killed before I had achieved it. My new appearance gained me easy access to the academy as a new student and after undergoing the required tests I quickly rose to level five status and was given leadership of the Outsider gang by the new head of the disciplinary squad, good old Joel. With my new gang I wreaked havoc in the school and because of this the new headmaster announced a tournament. The Outsiders versus the disciplinary squad. The tournament came down to a fight between Joel, a Saiyan and me, a 'lowly' human. 


	2. An unlikely alliance

Chapter 1: An unlikely alliance  
Justin  
  
We stared at each other for a while, neither of us willing to make the first move. I knew Joel too well though, my patience far exceeded his own, and with little doubt he would be the aggressor. That was more than fine with me. Even though I felt a bit intimidated (I still remembered my first encounter with Joel), I was a great deal stronger than I was back then.  
"Well, newbie, you've got some balls!" exclaimed Joel, assuming his fighting stance. I started a little bounce, like a boxer warming up in the ring.  
"Yeah that's what your mama told me," I countered. Joel's face broke out a sly grin.  
"Touchy!" he said, "I'd better warn you, no human can defeat me!" I didn't listen to him. He would try to get me to doubt myself. There were still lots of techniques that I hadn't mastered yet, like Buku-jutsu, the art of flying.  
"Put up or shut up, monkey boy!" I shouted. Joel merely laughed and suddenly began the festivities. He flew at me at what I assumed to be at his full speed but I was sorely mistaken when his speed increased tenfold, surprising me greatly, and sent a wild hook punch my way. I was barely able to duck under the uncoordinated attack and reciprocated by driving my right foot into his chest. The blow sent him spinning away from me, but soon he regained his composure and punished me by lodging his fist in the middle of my face, breaking my nose. I skated backwards on both feet from the force of the blow, grasping my nose in pain. I recovered quickly and dove into Joel, my green aura covering me. Obviously, he hadn't expected me to move so fast because he barely had time to bring his arm up to block the jump kick I sent at him. He was forced to take a few steps backward to keep his balance.  
He looked at me with newfound interest, almost as though he hadn't noticed me before. I knew he was going to say something so I beat him to it.  
"You're pretty good, monkey boy," I commended, taking my fighting stance, "but you know if that kick had connected it would've been over." Joel smirked.  
"Bullshit!" he cried, going into his stance once more, "I must admit though, you might actually provide a challenge!" He said this while bringing forth his blue aura and began to power up. I waited patiently as he did this, trying to think up a good strategy to win. Joel didn't realize who I really was, he knew me as Jin, the lone wolf, the mysterious, trouble making human, but at the end of this fight he would.  
When Joel finished his powerup, he rushed straight at me. I must admit, he caught me completely off guard with his next move and if he had attacked then and there he would have dealt some serious damage, but he decided to showboat and it cost him. He stopped right in front of me, surprising me, but instead of attacking me directly, he jumped into the air. At the apex of his jump he did a somersault and began to fall at insane speeds, elbow first, towards me. This attack left him extremely vulnerable and being the good boy that I was, how could I resist?  
I leapt into the air after him and, as he fell, I closed my hand around his left ankle and hurled him to the ground. I zanzokened after his freefalling body and, just before he hit the ground, I used my foot to guide his head into the rocky surface, uprooting a few chunks of earth in the process. I did a few backflips and landed a few metres away from my opponent, in my fighting stance, skating backwards just a bit. "Might...provide a challenge?" I asked with a smirk. I watched as Joel rose to his feet slowly. The glare he gave me sent a chill up my spine. Suddenly, he zanzokened. I tried desperately to track his ki and when I did it was too late. I swiveled to my right to face him and was greeted by the sight of his fist closing in on my face. The hit propelled me into the air, spinning uncontrollably. When my ears stopped ringing I heard Joel power up a ki attack.  
"Kame..." he began, gathering energy into his cupped hands. What!? Joel thought he could power up faster than I could? I shifted myself in midair and powered up an attack taught to me by my Namekian masters. This attack was ideal because it could be pulled off at full power in a short period of time.  
"Makou-sen!!!" I shouted, whipping my cupped hands forward. The green beam flew toward my Saiyan rival.  
"Hame..." he continued, watching my beam intently, "Ha!!" The blue beam that erupted from Joel's hands was twice the size of my own, but I didn't care. When our beams collided I felt the recoil immediately and I knew that my adversary felt it as well. Despite the size of my Makou-sen attack, it put up quite a fight against Joel's Kamehameha, but eventually I felt my strength begin to wane. I let go of my attack and zanzokened before the blue beam could hit me. I reappeared on the ground a few metres away from Joel.  
A sudden breeze picked up causing my belt and my opponent's hair to flail around wildly. His tail was wrapped around his waist, as usual, as he turned to face me. There was a slight grin on his face and I didn't like it. I decide to resume the battle as I zanzokened and reappeared in front of him. Immediately Joel began to block the flurry of punches and kicks that I sent his way. Our hyperfighting upped in pace when we let our auras consume us. Joel retaliated with his own onslaught of attacks and I was able to block and evade them with little difficulty. I found my own attacks striking Joel's open palm, his forearm or maybe even a clenched fist of his own. Only rarely did we actually land any of our blows. The hyperfight only lasted for several seconds, which seems like an eternity to those who can move at half the speed of light, and only ceased when Joel and I punched each other simultaneously in the cheek, sending us skidding back toward our respective sides of the arena.  
The arena was all natural and was carved, over time by the elements, entirely out of rock. At the four corners of this arena were four natural rock spires. This place had seen many a battle and this one was probably the most intense it had ever seen.  
Again a grin crossed Joel's lips and this caused me to shout in anger, giving Joel a glare that possessed the essence of pure malevolence. I ran into him at full speed, catching him off-guard, and launched him into the air with an uppercut to his chin. He crashed through three rock plateaus in succession and then crash-landed on the hard, rocky surface. I didn't stop there. I leapt into the air, rubbed my palms together and then shot out my Renzoku rapid-fire energy blasts at my grounded opponent. I filled the sky with my blasts and they all curved as they headed for Joel. About thirty of the blasts struck him. Before the smoke even cleared I powered up my Makou-sen. I cupped my hands at my abdomen's level and the little ball of ki that had appeared there began to grow.  
"Makou-sen!!!" I shouted, whipping my cupped hands toward Joel. The beam traveled quickly and parted the smoke, giving me a view of Joel, who was now struggling to rise. He turned his head at the last second and a scared look swept his face as the Makou-sen drew closer. There was a huge explosion when the beam hit him, and he was thrown into the air along with rock debris, just as I had expected. I thought about sending another Makou- sen but I decided against it. It'd probably miss and I might need the ki later on. It was then I remembered that I couldn't fly. I dropped down onto a rock plateau and, from there, pushed off into the air after Joel only to receive a devious kick to the side of my head as he had zanzokened right in front of me. I fell out of the sky like a swatted mosquito and, before impact with the ground, he zanzokened directly above me and elbowed me down. I hit the ground so hard that a crater the size of an Olympic swimming pool formed around me. Immediately I pushed myself up and, in a rage, flew straight at him with such speeds I had never known. A trail of fire followed after me, and my green aura consumed my enraged body. I extended my arm and my fist collided with Joel's open palm as he caught my punch. The force of the blow, and my speed, propelled us straight into the academy's assembly building, which was over twenty miles away from the arena. The students who were there got quite a scare when we burst through the wall. We only stopped our uncontrollable flight when we crashed into the reinforced titanium foundation. My gi was in ruin and Joel's uniform had become rags. My body was screaming for me to just stay where I lay, but I ignored the pain and did a cat's spring to my feet. Joel was already standing.  
"Why!?" he asked, breathing heavily, "why won't you just die!!??" I grinned. I had finally done what I wanted to do. I had wiped that stupid grin off of his face. His fists shook in anger.  
"Not bad for a human, eh monkey boy?" I queried, taking the time to snap my broken nose back into place. I shot a few quick jabs at empty air to flaunt my speed. "Not as easy as it was two years ago, isn't it?" I continued. Joel seemed confused.  
"Whaddya mean?" he inquired, "two years ago?" He knotted his eyebrows and waved his tail around. Suddenly, his eyes grew wider in realization. "Justin!?" he exclaimed. I gave him a smirk. I received great satisfaction from his confusion. I didn't give him time to think, though, I rushed him then and sent a fist at his cheek but had long since zanzokened. He reappeared off to my left and punished me by bringing a ki charged fist to my back causing me to scream in pain. I staggered forward and zanzokened before he could follow up his assault. I reappeared directly in front of him and sent a barrage of punches and kicks, which he dodged with ease. He sank his fist in my abdomen breaking a few ribs, and followed up with a spin kick, roundhouse kick, front kick, right-left punch, knee into axe kick combo, which I collected in full. I fell to the floor a bloody mess.  
"It wasn't supposed to be this way Justin. I'm surprised I was able to toy with you this much," said Joel, walking up to my grounded form, "how you escaped those bastards from the Cold Empire is a mystery, but you made the biggest mistake in coming back here!!" I struggled to rise to my feet and when I did, I began to chuckle softly.  
"What's so funny?" he asked, stopping in his tracks. The smirk returned to my face as I let my green aura bathe me.  
"Actually Joel, I'm surprised that you haven't even realized..." I began, as I began to power up for the first time for the fight, "that I'm the one who's been toying with you!!!" The entire assembly building shook violently as a result of the power I was letting off. Immediately after my powerup we engaged in another hyperfighting melee. We rained blows on each other and soon we even ceased trying to block each other's attacks. We just hit and got hit. Our blows sent shockwaves all throughout the building. We moved quickly, clearing out desks, chairs and even people who just happened to be in our way.  
Suddenly a voice came over the intercom, ordering us to cease our fight immediately. It was the new headmaster. We ignored him and kept at our melee battle. At times we were so close to each other that our green and blue auras merged. The headmaster repeated his warning three times but still we fought on. Joel and I had both been grappling with each other and were now punching the shit out of each other. We were about to hit each other the finishing blow when a voice stopped us.  
"Stop!!!" it commanded. Our fists halted just micrometres from our faces and we both turned to see to whom the voice belonged. It was a girl. She had waist long, blonde hair and had a scouter attached to her ear. She was about my age and she wore the same type of blue padded armored uniform that Joel had started off our fight wearing. She hovered into the assembly hall through the large hole that Joel and I had made upon entering it.  
"You two have disobeyed direct orders from the headmaster! You are to cease any combat or face severe punishment! Do I make myself clear?" she shouted.  
Suddenly, the little screen over her eye began to operate as Joel shot into the air straight at her. She gave a devilish grin as the rising numbers on her scouter came to a halt.  
"Okay then." she said, flying down at him. The girl casually evaded his quick punches and then sank her fist into his chest. I gazed on in utter surprise when I saw the imprint of her fist bulging out of Joel's back. Her blow sent him jetting to the ground and he landed heavily right next to where I stood. His body twitched violently on the floor and I stared at him in pure shock. She passed her hand through her long blonde hair and smiled at me wickedly. Who was this girl? She seemed to read my mind.  
"I'm sorry. I forgot to introduce myself," she said, giving me a slight bow while Joel picked himself off of the floor, "you can call me Jeran. I'm the leader of the Garden gang." I swore under my breath and clenched my fists in anger. I could feel her power and knew it was way above my own.  
"You little..." was all I could think of saying, "you interrupted..." She smirked.  
"Are you gonna disobey direct orders as well, Jin?" she asked me. I swore yet again. What should I do? It was then I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Joel.  
"Jin...Justin," he started, "I know you hate me...and I don't blame you, hell!! I hate myself, but...let's call a truce for now, so we can finish up our thing later. This bitch is gonna pay for hitting me. So...you in?" I shrugged his hand off of my shoulder in disgust, but thought about what he asked me. Should I give up? No!! I had learned long ago that that was not an option. But I didn't enjoy the idea of aiding my sworn enemy either. However, I had waited two whole years for this showdown and I was not going to let anyone stand in my way, even if it meant helping Joel out this one time. I stared up at her and gave her a wry smile. "Idiot..." I said, nonchalantly. She grew annoyed. "What was that!?" she shouted. "You heard me...you're an idiot to think that I'll take orders from you," came the reply. She raised her right palm and powered up an attack. "Sorry you feel that way, Jin. See you later boys," she said with a somewhat sultry tone. She then fired the ki blast our way. Joel and I stared at it for a second, then at each other. All of the students who were quietly spectating vacated the building immediately. The both of us grabbed each other and then we both blurred out of sight.  
  
CHARACTERS RECRUITED INITIAL P/LVL  
JIN 460  
JOEL 440  
  
SOUNDTRACK: CRAWLING by Linkin Park 


	3. Mission acceptedmaybe

Chapter 2: Mission Accepted??...Maybe  
Joel  
  
We reappeared off to her right and, assuming our fighting stances, began circling her. We were dog-tired and half our energy was spent.  
"I thought Jin and I were the strongest students in the academy," I said, still moving.  
"Don't be so damn conceited!!" she cried, "you guys aren't the only ones who train hard!!" I jumped her just then, sending an onslaught of blows at her. Jeran blocked them all and sent me soaring with a sidekick to my cheek. I landed on a table a few metres away. I did a cat's spring up to my feet and flew at her again only to collide with Jin's limp body as Jeran foiled his attack and threw him my way. The both of us crashed into a few more tables and almost immediately we were at her again. Jin attacked from the ground and I attacked from the air. Jeran hovered backwards, using her feet to block Jin's punches and she merely shifted her shoulders and her head to dodge my airborne attacks. She folded her arms and just continued blocking and evading our attacks this way until Jin and I grew tired. We stopped our assault and drew back, the both of us breathing heavily. "Well boys, let me share a little secret with you," said Jeran as she activated her scouter, "Joel, you have a powerlevel of 440, and Jin, you're 460. That's powerful, but I have a powerlevel of 900!!"  
Jin and I stared at her for a second until we couldn't hold it in any longer. Though Jin tried desperately to fight it, we both burst out laughing hysterically. This seemed to unnerve Jeran somewhat.  
"W-w-what's so funny?" she queried, landing in front of us. I gave her a grin and shrugged.  
"You know you sure had us fooled. The way you acted made me think that you were smart," I said, "now I know that you really aren't."  
"What did you say!?" she shouted. Jin folded his arms and turned away in boredom.  
"If you were smart then you would know that a true fighter never starts a battle at full power. Piss off, girl, you're interrupting us...if that's the best you can do," he said dryly. She gasped in surprise when the both of us let our auras encompass our bodies where we stood.  
"I think you should check your scouter again babe," I told her. Jeran did just that and gasped yet again.  
"How...how is this possible!!?" she cried, "I was sure that I had trained hard enough!" Jin, with his arms still folded, turned once again to face her.  
"You're out of your league here. Leave before you get hurt," he said with no real tone in his voice. The blonde tore her scouter off in a fit of rage.  
"I can beat you! You're both still weaker than I am!" she shrieked. She flew in at top speed and her fist smashed into the floor on which Jin had been standing only a few seconds before. I reappeared right in front of her and swung my foot at her. It only sliced air as she blurred out of the path of my attack. She reappeared off to my left and sent a punch at me, which I evaded by zanzokening as well. Jin's boot collided with Jeran's chin as he suddenly appeared in front of her. My fist was formally introduced with her stomach as I reappeared to take advantage of her recovery. My blow sent her flying, headfirst, into the reinforced titanium foundation in the walls.  
Jeran fell to the ground like she had an anvil tied to her feet. I glanced across at Jin. His arms were covered entirely with bruises, as was his partially covered torso. Blood flowed from his lips and a deep cut on his cheek. Sweat covered every visible part of his body. He caught my glance and turned away.  
"How...how can this be!?" came Jeran, softly. She took a while to get up and when she did she staggered to keep her balance. She probably felt the way Jin and I looked because she seemed pretty out of it. Suddenly, moving very quickly, she leapt into the air and assumed an attack pose, cupping her hands.  
"Ebonblast!!" shouted Jeran, letting her beam loose.  
"Let me handle this..." I instructed, assuming my own attack pose, "Kamehameha!!!" My blue beam collided with Jeran's and they both fought against each other. Jin took a step back and watched the light display. I pushed with all my might and soon I realized that I couldn't keep it up. I had drained too much of my energy against Jin. I tried to fight it but Jeran soon gained the upper hand.  
"Makou-sen!!!" yelled Jin, going into his attack pose beside me. He stretched his arms forward and then rotated them until hands came into a cupped position. Finally he whipped his hands at Jeran, letting the attack loose. The effect was devastating, for Jeran. Jin's green beam merged with mine and, together, they cut through Jeran's like a hot knife through butter. The scouter that our opponent had discarded earlier exploded from the raw power we now emitted. Jeran shrieked in fear when the blue-green beam was about to strike her.  
Suddenly, the figure of a man appeared right in front of the blonde haired girl and smacked our beams out of the building, effortlessly. There was a huge explosion when it collided with some rather unfortunate bird in the sky. I stood up quickly and stared at Jeran's saviour, who now held her unconscious form as he descended slowly to the floor. He wore padded armor and had piercing gray eyes, which now stared at me with no emotion. He had long, red hair and his muscular frame was twice my own size.  
"Headmaster Red!?" I gasped, as he landed a few feet away from us.  
"I hope you two don't intend on attacking me as well," he stated, trying to revive Jeran, "I'll understand if Joel does, though, after all he is a Saiyan. However, he'll find that I'm not as easy as Jeran here." I wrapped my tail around my waist for the umpteenth time. The way he spoke, as if to himself, really freaked me out.  
"I may be a Saiyan, but I'm not stupid," I said, almost to myself.  
"Is she alright?" asked Jin. Red looked up at him.  
"She'll be fine. She just fainted, is all," came the answer. He had succeeded in reviving Jeran and lifted her again. "However, you two might think you're alright, but get yourselves in the Rejuv tanks anyway. I want you well rested and in my office at 0800 hours tomorrow, understand?" We nodded in reply. Red nodded in acknowledgement and then zanzokened with Jeran in tow.  
"Well Jin, seems like we'll have to postpone our fight...Jin?" I said, turning around only to find that he was already walking away in the other direction. "Hey Jin!!" He stopped and turned for a second. "Why'd you help me with handling Jeran's attack?"  
Jin turned again and continued to walk away, saying, "Because if anyone's going to kill you...it'll be me." Several students hustled to stay out of his way; they feared and respected anyone who had the guts and the power to stand up to me. He wrapped the remains of his upper gi to cover his torso, but I had already seen the countless scars and stitches that tainted his muscular upper body. Most likely he had obtained those scars from his captors at the Cold Empire, but how did he escape? I had to give it to Jin. Despite the damage he had sustained during our fight he still showed no signs of fatigue. He had really grown into a great warrior and I was almost sorry that I would have to kill him eventually. Almost.  
The next morning found the Jin, Jeran and I, in full academy uniform, inside the headmaster's office.  
"Before anything is said, sir, I'd like to apologize for failing you, sir," said Jeran, lowering her gaze to the floor. Red took a long time to respond. He just stared at us. Finally he broke the silence.  
"It's alright Jeran, but it should be me apologizing to you. I really didn't expect that you would be able to beat them at all, yet I still sent you. I humbly apologize," he said, causing the girl to gasp in surprise, "the reason I had you fight them was to get them to see how well they work together, instead of fighting all the time."  
"So the tournament, my fight with Jin, and our fight with Jeran were all some sort of test?" I asked. The headmaster nodded.  
"What could you possibly have hoped to gain with that idiotic plan? I still want to kill Joel," muttered Jin softly. Red rose from his seat and peered down at us.  
"I have a high estimation of you three. You have so much potential, especially you Joel, and yet you waste it here at the academy," he said, causing all three of us to gasp, "Capsule Corps' headquarters has sent an invitation to all of it's academies in the universe. One gang, composed of thirty members, that's twenty fighters and ten subs, are required to take part in a tournament on Earth." Jin chuckled.  
"Is that all?" Jin said, "That shouldn't be any problem. We'll just get some of our strongest members from each of our gangs and..."  
"It's not that easy, Jin. You three are by far the most powerful students in this academy, but in comparison to all the fighters that are going to be at that tournament, you are pathetically weak," Red stated simply.  
"Get to the point already..." I grumbled.  
"My point is, Joel, that there's no way we can train that much students to that level in one year. We need to recruit fighters," he said.  
"And that's where we come in, right?" asked Jin, staring out of the window, looking over the academy grounds. Red nodded.  
"You three, plus myself, are already registered to compete in the tournament. I need you three to work together an recruit twenty six more fighters and meet me on Earth in one year for the competition," he continued.  
"Sounds simple enough, just two things," I said, "who's in charge and which ship are we taking?"  
"You'll be taking one of the research vessels. This particular one has enough space for the amount of fighters we need. It also has a large training area with the new gravity-training feature. There's enough food and supplies to last a year and a half. As for the leader..." he paused, and placed a scouter over his eye. He looked at me for a while, then at Jeran, and finally, at Jin. "The fighters at the tournament will probably be in the late tens of thousands or early hundred thousands. Joel is 2100, Jeran you're 980 and Jin is 1810," he stated. We could hear Jeran gulp when she heard our real powerlevels; Jin and I had only halved our powerlevels to take her out. "...Jin will be the leader," Red finished. Jeran and I couldn't believe our ears. Jin merely continued to gaze out the window with his arms folded.  
"Say what!?" I yelled, "there is no way I'm taking orders from him!" Jeran nodded in agreement.  
"These are my orders!! Or would you rather being expelled!?" barked Red. I remained silent, as did Jeran. "I thought so," said Red. Jin turned to face us now.  
"Again, what do you hope to accomplish from this?" he asked. Red waved a hand impatiently to negate this question.  
"Now you three take the rest of today to rest up and prepare yourselves. As of tomorrow you have a journey to start and a hell of a lot of training to do," he finished, "Jin, Joel you two are dismissed. Jeran, I have some things to talk to you about." And so, we left.  
  
CHARACTERS RECRUITED INITIAL P/LVL  
JERAN 980  
  
SOUNDTRACK: SUFFOCATE by Spineshank 


	4. Master Trump

Chapter 3: Master Trump  
Jeran  
  
"Jeran, are you listening?" asked Jin, taking a seat at the pilot's console. I came out of my thoughts.  
"That's Miss Jeran to you, boy," I hissed, "I know that you're supposed to be the leader but let's get one thing straight, you piss me off and I'll hurt you." Jin sighed and folded his arms. We had left the academy three days now and things weren't going so smoothly. Joel wouldn't listen to Jin, not that the dark skinned fighter even tried to talk to him, and even though headmaster Red told me why he did it, I was basically angry about not being the leader.  
"Tch...whatever," said Jin, "in case you weren't listening, we're going to a planet called Namek first." I watched him as he punched in the coordinates.  
"Why Namek?" I asked him, sitting in one of the twelve passenger seats. Jin took a while to answer.  
"They are a race of strong fighters. They're the ones who trained me. They should be able to spare a few fighters." I looked at Jin. He was just sixteen, less than a year younger than myself, and yet his eyes were sharp and his gaze was incisive, giving off the impression that he had witnessed and experienced things that normal people his age shouldn't have. However, strangely enough, he also had a soft, childish look about him, as if he had been untouched by worldly vices, something that totally contradicted his other look. As these observations sank in, I began to feel my anger slowly fade away.  
"Why did you let your hair grow into an Afro?" I asked, "Afros are so retro." Jin smirked.  
"So is waist-long hair, Jeran," he countered, causing me to smile, 't help it. Maybe you could help me with the hair later." I nodded.  
"You look tired," I observed. He nodded.  
"You would too, if you hadn't slept for three days," he replied simply. I gasped.  
"Three days!!?" I exclaimed, "What were you doing?" He leaned back in his seat.  
"Training mostly," he replied, "I've been testing out the new gravity training feature. I just can't rest knowing Joel's still stronger than I am. There's something about him, something that helps him get stronger without having to train. When we fought we were on equal footing. We both had the same powerlevel. I made sure of it. But when Red checked, it had risen."  
"Joel?" I queried, "What's up with you two anyways?" Jin quieted significantly when I asked this. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but then closed it again.  
"A long time ago, two years to be exact," came a voice by the bridge entrance. We both turned only to see Joel, wearing his jet-black gi, leaning against the door with his arms folded. "The last headmaster, Razz, had just been killed and I took control of the academy using the Outsiders. I began to sell off the weak students, who all just so happened to be human, to the Cold Empire for use in their...'experiments'...My second in command, Justin, found out about it so I beat him and sold him as well," he continued. I looked at Joel in pure disgust, but of course the Saiyan ignored me. "But he escaped them somehow," he concluded. Jin slowly rose to his feet, anger etching across his countenance.  
"What happened to Justin?" I asked. Knowing the Cold Empire and their reputation for torturing their prisoners I could just imagine what the poor thing went through. Joel turned toward Jin.  
"Don't know," he answered, "but why don't you ask him yourself?" He pointed directly at Jin, who appeared to be angry to the core. I stared, in pitied horror, at the teenager in front of me. No wonder he wanted to kill Joel.  
"You...Jin, you're Justin!?" I gasped. I instantly regretted interrupting Jin and Joel's fight. The smirk on Joel's face seemed to increase Jin's anger and for a second, I was afraid that they would duke it out right there and then, with me caught in the middle. Just then, Jin's eyes shifted to me and his expression softened. Suddenly, the ship's computerized voice rang out.  
"Approaching planet #0406...Namek. Please prepare for breach of atmosphere," it said. Jin sank back to his seat and pushed a few more buttons and then he turned to face us.  
"Justin died two years ago, Joel, call me Jin," he stated flatly, "The headmaster sent us to do a job." He raised an eyebrow and gave Joel a wry smile. "I'll deal with you after it's done," he finished. The Saiyan's smirk remained on his face.  
"Likewise," said Joel, taking a seat next to me, "at the tournament, then?" Jin nodded. I looked at my two companions in amazement.  
  
Red stared at me for a while and then spoke. "I know you're angry Jeran,  
but hear me out," he stated. I gave him his chance. "You see, Jin and  
Joel are...well, rivals you can say. Neither of them will stop until the  
other is dead, there's no escaping that fact. But out of the two, Jin is  
more...restrained...more methodic in his rage. If there is a logical reason  
not to fight, he'll accept it. Joel, however, will not. He's a Saiyan.  
His is a race that is born to fight. Therefore, in an attempt to curb any  
potential violence, I'll put Jin in a situation where he will choose not  
to fight. As a leader, his main job will be to keep order, and with each  
new recruit, his sense of responsibility will increase. You, and the  
other recruits will be... peacekeepers...of sorts. Do you understand now  
Jeran?"  
  
I didn't then, but as I stared at these two I finally understood my  
purpose on this journey. I was a peacekeeper, and the more recruits we  
got the better. As long as we were there Jin and Joel would be forced to  
work together.  
"Brace yourselves for landing you guys," instructed Jin. Joel and I  
both strapped on our seatbelts and we soon entered the planet's  
atmosphere, feeling only slight turbulence when we landed. "Joel, you'll  
have to stay here," said Jin, "these people have had some really bad  
experiences with Saiyans." Jin attached a scouter to his ear, waiting for  
Joel's response. I guess I was expecting Joel to be upset but he  
surprised me by just nodding.  
"Fine, I've got to start training anyways," he stated, leaving the  
room. I glanced at Jin and smiled, all the time thinking to myself 'The  
poor boy...'  
"Grab a scouter Miss Jeran," he said, "and let's go hunt us some  
Nameks."  
We emerged from the ship only to find hundreds upon hundreds of green  
faces staring at us. This was my first encounter with the Nameks. We  
walked straight up to the ones in front. The old ones looked fearsome.  
The younger ones appeared strong and formidable, and the children, they  
were sooooooo...cute!!  
"Be you friend or foe?" asked an old Namekian. I waited to see what  
Jin would say, but all he did was survey the crowd and I couldn't help  
but feel a bit nervous with the silence. Finally he broke the silence.  
"If I said I was a foe, what would you do about it, huh?" he said,  
tauntingly. A few murmurs came from the crowd and suddenly a young  
looking Namekian stepped forward.  
"Well then, I'd just have to ask you politely to leave, or if you  
prefer, I could just kick you out," he said in a rough voice. I edged a  
little closer to Jin.  
"What the hell are you doing?" I harshly whispered. He ignored me and  
took a step to face the young Namekian. For a second I saw Jin and Joel  
again, instead Jin was the one smirking. Their faces were, in reality,  
masks of seriousness and I thought hey would fight but then they both  
smiled.  
"Justin!" cried the young alien.  
"Furion!" replied Jin, "how the hell have you been?" I gazed at the  
two of them in shock as the entire Namekian congregation began laughing.  
"You two know each other!?" I asked, coming out of my daze. Jin nodded  
and then I remembered that Jin had been trained on this planet.  
"Who's your friend?" asked the old Namekian from before. Jin  
introduced us and I found out that the old guy's name was Dessin.  
"Come! You must tell us everything, Justin," said Furion, gently  
pushing Jin toward a house. I lingered outside for a while to observe the  
Namekian landscape. The island we were on was a small one. There were  
countless others, as far as the eye could see, with small, lollipop  
shaped trees and the same types of domed houses strewn all over the  
landscape.  
"You coming, Miss Jeran?" asked Furion. I snapped out of my thoughts  
and replied, "Oh? Oh yeah, I'm coming." I followed him into the house  
where Jin had already begun to tell Dessin our purpose.  
"...and so, we need to recruit fighters," he finished. The old guy  
nodded and ordered Furion to bring the strongest warriors he could find.  
Soon five fighters entered the small room and Dessin spoke.  
"They are at your service, Just...I mean Jin," he said.  
"Thank you very much Master Dessin!" exclaimed Jin, giving a slight  
bow. I watched the five green skinned warriors through my scouter. They  
were each at a high 3000! There was just one problem.  
"Master Dessin, don't you have any fighters a bit younger, like  
Furion?" I asked. Jin gave me a quizzical look and I elaborated. "Well,  
it's just that it'll be difficult for anyone to believe these five are CC  
academy students," I continued. Jin slowly nodded,  
"You're right," he said, "Master Dessin, don't you have anyone around  
Furion's age?" The old Namekian shook his head.  
"I'm sorry. Furion is the youngest warrior we have," he replied. Jin  
smiled suddenly.  
"Well Furion, how 'bout it? Will you come with us?" he queried. Furion  
seemed taken aback.  
"Uh...well, I'm not sure," he answered," I've never left the planet  
before." Master Dessin rose to his feet suddenly.  
"I think it's a great idea! It will be a good experience for you,  
Furion, not many Nameks have ever left the planet. It's decided, you're  
going with Jin!" he stated. The young Namekian grew wide-eyed, with a  
scared look on his face that made me feel sorry for him.  
"Furion, it'll really help us out a lot if you join us," I said in my  
sweetest possible voice. A huge sweatdrop fell down Furion's face.  
"But what about Master Trump?" asked Furion, desperately, "since Jin  
left I'm his only student, he'll be lonely if I go!!"  
"You have a point there, Furion, you must request Master Trump's  
permission," said Dessin.  
"But my master is out searching for the dragonballs, Master Dessin,"  
said Furion.  
"Dragonballs?" I inquired, "What're they. They sound like  
something...perverted." Furion didn't seem to understand my comment, or if  
he did, he chose not to say anything about it.  
"You didn't tell your friend about the dragonballs, Jin?" asked  
Furion. Jin merely shrugged. "Miss Jeran, when all seven dragonballs are  
collected, the Eternal Dragon, Porunga, appears and grants the person who  
summoned him three wishes," he explained. I couldn't believe my ears.  
"You've got to be kidding me," I said in disbelief. Jin nodded.  
"It's true," said Jin, "Why's old Master Trump after the dragonballs  
anyways?"  
"Just for kicks, I assume," answered Dessin, "why don't you rest up  
here until he returns?"  
We waited for a good few hours, in which I got myself acquainted with  
as many Namekians as possible, especially those cute children. Jin and  
Furion both sat against the wall of a house and chatted away. I activated  
my scouter and spied on them. Jin's powerlevel had grown since Red's  
reading three days ago. It now stood at a high 2700!! He wasn't kidding  
when he said he had gravity trained three days in a row! Although I had  
begun my training yesterday, it hadn't been with the gravity machine. My  
powerlevel barely crossed the 1000 mark. I'd have to start gravity  
training in order to keep up with my comrades.  
Next I checked Furion. The green skinned warrior had a powerlevel of  
only 300. I smiled. At least I'd have company while training. Suddenly,  
my scouter picked up a new power heading this way. Jin's scouter  
activated as well.  
"Master Trump returns!" cried a cute little Namek. Jin and Furion rose  
and walked up to me as the old Namekian known as Trump came flying in  
with a sack slung over his shoulder. He landed quickly and came toward  
us.  
"I think I'm finally going senile!" he cried in a loud voice. My  
scouter finally stopped and I gasped.  
"What makes you say that?" asked Jin.  
"Didn't you leave just two months ago?" asked Trump, "that's right,  
you left your old Master and now you want to take Furion away too."  
"How'd you know that?" I asked, making sure to stay behind Jin.  
"He has really good hearing," replied Furion, "so I guess you don't  
want me to go?" He sounded too eager  
"Actually, I think it's a great idea!" boomed Trump, "but I need to  
see how badly you want him." Jin stood straight and turned his head to  
face Master Trump.  
"Is that...a challenge, master?" he queried. Master Trump dropped the  
sack from his shoulder and began to stretch.  
"I don't feel like beating you senseless today boy, I had enough of  
that when I trained you," he replied. I gave a sigh of relief. Jin  
wouldn't stand a chance. Master Trump's powerlevel was 38,500!! "However,  
if you can catch me, I'll let Furion join you," he finished. A huge  
sweatdrop fell down the side of Jin's head and I knew why. Master Trump  
began to levitate.  
"I...I still can't fly, master," Jin said. Master Trump fell out of the  
sky in embarrassment and both Furion and I sweatdropped. Trump recovered  
first.  
"Well then, I guess my student stays," he stated.  
"Wait!" I shouted suddenly, "I'll do it." Everyone looked my way.  
"Are you sure?" asked Trump. I nodded.  
"Do it, Miss Jeran!" encouraged Jin. The old Namekian pushed off into  
the air and flew away from everyone, with me close at his heels. He  
peered back at me.  
"You're very fast young lady!" he commended.  
"Thanks," I replied, increasing my speed, "but you haven't seen  
anything yet!" I reached out to grab his leg as I drew closer to him but  
I only caught air as his speed sky-rocketed. He flew around me in  
circles, as if to mock me. I blurred out of sight and reappeared right  
behind him. By the time I reached out to hold him he was already gone,  
letting himself drop out of the sky. I chased after his descending body,  
which was well relaxed, and getting closer to the ground. Suddenly, his  
smiling face appeared right in front of mine, startling me greatly. When  
I came out of my shock I tried to get him but he darted away swiftly. We  
were now a very great distance away from our friends.  
"You sure you don't want to give up?" he queried, "you will never  
catch me if we go on like this." I knew he was right, but I couldn't give  
up. I ceased my senseless pursuit and just hovered in the air trying to  
think of a way to catch my green adversary and suddenly it hit me. I shot  
off in the opposite direction, back toward our friends and I knew that  
Master Trump was following out of pure curiousity. Soon the island came  
into view and I dove toward the sack that, I was certain, contained the  
Namekians' precious dragonballs. I grabbed it, heavy as it was flew up to  
face Master Trump.  
"What're you planning on doing with that?" he asked, eyeballing the  
sack that I held. I grinned as I tore the sack open and the dragonballs  
fell to the ground at insane speeds. Master Trump let out a cry and, with  
a couple of zanzokens, caught six of them. As he looked about for the  
last one I pulled it out from behind my back. I blew him a kiss and  
darted away, the five star dragonball in hand. Master Trump carefully  
placed the others on the ground and came after me just as I expected.  
With his superior speed he easily caught up to me. He yanked the  
dragonball out of my hands and I seized the opportunity. I quickly  
wrapped my arms and legs around him and held on tightly. It was only then  
that he realized what I was up to and the mother of all sweatdrops fell  
down his head.  
"You are a clever one!" he said, "Well, looks like you caught me!" I  
nodded, making sure to maintain my hold on him. He lowered us to the  
ground in front of Jin and the others and I finally let go. "Furion!  
You're going with them! You can learn a lot from these two!" exclaimed  
Trump, patting the distraught Furion on the back. Jin held my shoulder  
and gave me an impressed look.  
"Good work, Jeran," he told me. Instantly I gave him a hard glare that  
made even his emotionless face flinch. "I-I m-mean...Miss Jeran!" he  
stuttered. I gave him a smile.  
"Jeran's fine," I stated, winking at him. Master Trump called out to  
everybody.  
"Come everyone!! I will now summon Porunga!" he shouted. Jin seemed  
excited.  
"C'mon Jeran, you're gonna love this!" he cried, grabbing my hand and  
pulling me forward. Trump stood before the dragonballs and began chanting  
in some strange language.  
Suddenly, the sky grew dark and the dragonballs began to glow. A light  
shot out of them began spiraling around in the sky, the most spectacular  
thing I had ever seen, and soon where there had been nothing before, a  
huge muscle bound dragon appeared before us!!  
"I WILL GRANT YOU THREE WISHES," it said, in an extremely loud voice,  
"SPEAK NOW!! I HAVE NO TIME TO WASTE!" I was very afraid of it, but Jin  
seemed totally excited.  
"Justin...Jin, why don't you make a wish," suggested Master Trump.  
Dessin and Furion both nodded in agreement. I turned to Jin and all he  
did was stare at the ground. Then he smiled.  
"I have the perfect wish," he said. He took a step forward and  
shouted, "I wish that I had the same advantage that gives Joel more power  
without having to train!!" The dragon's eyes began to glow and almost  
immediately Jin began to levitate. I gave a startled cry when he began to  
glow as well. A bright yellow light emanated from him.  
"Jin...wha-what's happening!?" I cried. Just as suddenly as it happened,  
it ceased and Jin fell to the ground.  
"IT HAS BEEN DONE! STATE YOUR NEXT WISH!!" boomed Porunga. I hurried  
over to my fallen comrade as Master Trump told the dragon to keep the  
remaining two wishes for later use. Jin sat up groggily and shook his  
head.  
"Are you alright!?" I asked, "What happened?" He rose to his feet and  
called Furion over. I gazed at Jin now and gasped. Jin's hair was no  
longer in an Afro! His hair wasn't curly and wavy as it had been mere  
minutes ago. It was now wild and spiky. His look changed as well,  
although I didn't really figure out exactly what it was, but he  
definitely changed. He seemed more wary...more alert.  
"Jeran, check his power," he instructed. I came out of my thoughts.  
"I did already. He's 300," I replied. Jin shook his head so I checked  
Furion's power once more and was astonished to see that it had increased.  
"1500!!" I cried, "This day's just full of surprises."  
  
CHARACTERS RECRUITED INITIAL P/LVL  
FURION 1500  
  
SOUNDTRACK: DOWNFALL by Trust Company 


	5. New Friends

Chapter 4: New Friends  
Nikita  
  
As I lay on the grass I stared straight into the sky aimlessly. It was a bright, beautiful day and everyone was enjoying it except me. I sat up and dried my eyes.  
"Niki, have you been crying?" asked my best friend Linda who lay next to me, "that bastard father of yours hit you again, didn't he!?" Sure he did, I thought, but hitting me wasn't the worst thing he had ever done to me. "Niki, you're so easygoing," Linda continued, "why do you let him take advantage of you like this?" What!? Did she know!?  
"What do you mean 'take advantage of me'?" I asked hurriedly. Linda sat up as well and touched my arm.  
"These bruises on your arm, didn't get there by themselves, Niki," she replied. I breathed a sigh of relief.  
"Oh! Um...Linda, if it's alright with you, I'd prefer not to talk about my father right now," I said. She nodded and smiled.  
"I'm sorry, Niki," she apologized, "hey! I know! Let's go see Aren. Who knows, you might even see that cute guy you were telling me about." Aren was my only cousin and he was a child prodigy in the martial arts world. He was insanely fast and almost as strong. His skill was unsurpassed as far as I knew, and he was just thirteen years old. Ever since he moved in with us, my father didn't even try to 'take advantage of me'.  
"I think I'll take a rain check," I said, lying back on the grass, "Aren's mentor isn't that cute." Linda sucked her teeth as she got up.  
"You say that about every guy who shows any interest in you," she said, "you shouldn't let what happens with your dad interfere with your life. Not all guys are bad. You'll see, one day your Prince Charming will sweep you off your feet." She jumped on her bicycle and soon my best friend was gone.  
"All alone now," I whispered. I could feel the tears fighting to come out. "I just wish I could just go away, start afresh, where no one cares about my...I hope Linda's right. I could really do with a Prince Charming right about now." I gazed at the sky and my vision became blurred when tears formed in my eyes. All of a sudden, I spotted four spherical shaped objects falling out of the sky. There was a slope to their descent and after a while, they crash-landed into the ground, creating a huge cloud of dirt and dust. I rose quickly to my feet and covered my face from the dust cloud. When it dissipated, I dusted off my skirt and hopped onto my bike.  
"They couldn't have landed far away from here," I told myself, pedaling like crazy, "Seems that today won't be so boring after all." People on the streets were running around like crazy, as if they believed that we were being invaded by aliens. I cut through some side streets to avoid this panic and was halfway through the city in a matter of minutes. I soon came upon a park, which seemed to be ground zero of the crash. I abandoned my bike and continued on foot. Soon I came across four small craters and in them were the four round shaped objects I had seen earlier, each with an open door. Just then, I heard some voices coming from a clearing, past some trees.  
"Well, what now Jin? We've got these people in a panic," came a girl's voice. I hid behind a tree and peered at the four people. They all seemed to be around my age, even the green one. They even wore normal clothes. The girl wore a pink T-shirt and a pair of jeans, with sandals. The dark skinned guy called Jin had on a white sleeveless muscle shirt, a pair of black, three quarter jeans and black sneakers. The guy with the monkey tail wore a black leather jacket over a white T-shirt, a pair of jeans and leather boots. The green guy wore yellow clothes, from top to bottom. They each had a sort of device over their eye.  
Jin didn't answer her. He seemed to be in pain as he hugged his abdomen.  
"Told you not to eat Jeran's cooking," said the guy with the tail. The girl pouted and seemed offended.  
"Who asked you?" she asked roughly, turning to him with a glare. The green guy shook his head and stepped between them.  
"Don't worry, Jeran, I like your food," he said, obviously trying to calm her down.  
"Why thank you, Furion," answered Jeran, cheering up a bit. Jin seemed to have recovered from his stomachache.  
"Need I remind you, Jeran, Furion doesn't eat," he said finally, causing Jeran to sulk even more, "as for the current situation, it can't be helped. We'll split up and search the city for recruits. Furion, you're with me, Jeran...unfortunately you're stuck with Joel. We'll meet back here tomorrow morning." The blonde haired girl groaned and Joel just grinned at her discomfort. Together, they both walked off in the opposite direction. Jin and Furion came in my direction. I ducked to avoid being seen and, not knowing why, I followed them.  
"Who are these people?" I asked myself, "and what do they mean by 'searching for recruits'?" The two 'aliens' made their way into the city and they both began gazing as the people gathered in the streets.  
"The people on this planet make some...interesting bumper stickers," said Jin eventually, "there's one about love and another about sticking up for yourself."  
"You know, you didn't have to burst Jeran's bubble," said Furion, ignoring his friend's observations. Jin looked at his companion.  
"You're right, I should've stopped myself," he admitted, "you get any high powerlevels yet?" Furion shook his head.  
"If you mean that strong power we felt yesterday from this planet, no," he replied, "Jin, how does it feel? What you wished for, I mean? Do you feel anything yet?"  
"Well, other than my hair getting unmanageably spiky and these constant stomachaches...nothing," he replied casually.  
"You mean Jeran's cooking wasn't the reason...?" began Furion.  
"Nah!!" interrupted Jin, "although it did have me in the bathroom, throwing up all night." The two companions continued walking on the sidewalk and then they abruptly turned into an alley. I followed swiftly, ducking behind a dumpster and I peered out at them. The dark skinned guy and his green friend were now just looking around the place, almost as if they sensed something approaching.  
"We've got company," observed Furion. Jin nodded.  
"I sensed them a while ago," said Jin, "You can come out now!!" He started to walk my way and I heard his footsteps. He was getting closer to the dumpster and my heart skipped a beat. I was afraid...no terrified and silently cursed myself for following them. Wait a sec...! Didn't Jin just say that he sensed 'them'? Before I could think any further, three men dressed up like ninjas ran vertically down the walls of the buildings on either side of the alley. They landed with a 'thud' and quickly surrounded the two guys. I gasped when I recognized them. These were the Magi, the most ruthless thugs in the city! I sank further behind the dumpster in fear. They were notorious for attacking, and eventually killing, unsuspecting citizens. The Magi ninjas began to chuckle diabolically. Jin and Furion kept their eyes on them.  
"Oh, an ambush," said Jin, folding his arms in apparent boredom, "how original."  
"Ooh, sarcastic little bastard, aren't you? I'm gonna enjoy making you bleed," said the first Magi, twirling a hooked chain, "the name's Caspar, my associates are Belthesar and Melchior. Now, you're gonna hand over all your money or..." He was rudely silenced when Furion's fist struck his abdomen. His movements were so swift that I could have sworn that the green skinned alien hadn't moved an inch! The other two ninjas were caught equally as off guard as Furion quickly dispersed them with a flurry of punches. I was greatly alarmed at Furion's speed. He was faster than little Aren!  
"Furion, you rock," commended Jin, who hadn't moved an inch during the ordeal, "but there's still one more left. I believe she's behind the dumpster." I let out a startled cry when Jin suddenly appeared in front of me.  
"Please...please don't hurt me!" I cried as he advanced on me. To my surprise Jin offered me his hand.  
"If I wanted to do that you wouldn't be breathing right now, miss," he said with a smile. I gazed at his hand for a while before finally accepting it. "Sorry I frightened you," he apologized.  
"How did you get by me so fast?" was all I could think of asking. Jin smiled again, a smile that I would later grow fond of.  
"Questions? Alright, I'll play. It's a little trick I like to call zanzokening," he replied, "Now it's my turn. Might I ask a beautiful lady her name?" My face flashed crimson instantly and I quickly turned to avoid being seen.  
"N-Nikita," I stuttered, "and you are Jin and your friend is called Furion." I turned to face them again, having recovered from my blushing fit. "Are you aliens? If you are, what is your purpose here? C'mon you can tell me," I pleaded.  
Jin told me everything and I marveled at them.  
"Wow! So that's what you meant by searching for recruits. Maybe I can help," I suggested, eagerly, "if it's a strong fighter you're looking for then my little cousin Aren is the one. He's usually at one of the dojos in town. C'mon, I'll take you to them." Jin and Furion watched each other for a second and then the dark skinned fighter nodded.  
"Lead on, sweet Nikita," he stated. I blushed yet again. He liked me, that much was obvious, and I must admit he was cute, but would he like me, would anyone like me if they knew. I couldn't afford to let any guy get really close to me.  
"P-please don't say that," I said, turning away. I gasped when Jin rested his hand on my shoulder and he gave me a quizzical look.  
"I can't help it," he simply replied. A strange feeling came over me and I just couldn't say anything.  
I took them to four martial arts dojos in our search for Aren. My cousin wasn't there, but on all four occasions Jin said something to insult the masters of each dojo and ended up being challenged to fight. Jim politely declined, cowardice was my only explanation, but Furion the Namekian was more than happy to accept. He was amazing; his skills far exceeded those of the humans he fought. After a few hours I gave up. We couldn't find Aren, so I decided to buy them something to eat...well Jin anyways. The sky was getting dark and I knew that my father was already home from work.  
Suddenly, I came out of my thoughts only to find Furion staring at me through the device over his eye. His stare made me feel very uncomfortable and, for some strange reason, vulnerable.  
"Please don't," I said, lowering my eyes, "it feels as if you're staring into my soul." Furion smiled.  
"Sorry, it's just a bad habit of mine," he said, "but I sense that you are troubled by something. I know that it's none of my business, but it helps to talk about it."  
"You're right, it's none of your business," I began, taking a sip of my milkshake, "I don't think anyone can understand what I went through." Jin scratched his head.  
"Aww...don't be too hard on him. He's just prone to staring at beautiful things," he said, sizing up an ice cream sundae that lay on the table before him, "Nikita, you're a very kind person. I'll bet that you're kind to everyone you meet. I mean, you were kind to us and you didn't even know us. But I'll bet some people take advantage of your kind and gentle nature. You mustn't let people mistake your kindness for weakness. If anyone does, and you don't stop them it'll be your fault that you're hurt. Stand up, fight, people will take advantage of you only if you let 'em!" Almost immediately after he said this to me he began to gobble the ice cream down. I gazed at Jin. What he said made me feel worse about myself, but I wasn't angry with him for it.  
"Smarter than he looks, isn't he?" asked Furion. I nodded.  
"He seems so serious all the time," I said, leaning closer to Furion and then whispering, "And he's seems like such a coward."  
"Jin may be a bit childish, but if it's one thing he's not, it's a coward," explained Furion, while his friend stuffed his face, "Jin's gone through a lot in the past two years. He's missed out on things that humans his age normally go through, hence his seriousness." I took all of this in and gained a new respect for the dark skinned fighter.  
"What were you two talking about?" queried Jin, who had finished his sundae and ordered another.  
"We were just admiring the little speech you gave to Nikita," replied the Namekian.  
"Huh? Read it on a bumper sticker," stated Jin, immediately devouring his second ice cream sundae.  
"Jin you really shouldn't eat something so cold so fast or you could get..." I began. Just then, he grabbed his head with his hands and groaned in pain. "...Brain freeze..." I continued, "You must really like ice cream." Jin soon recovered.  
"I haven't had one of these in five years," he explained. I looked at him in shock. "The academy frowns on junk food. They say it isn't good for a fighter's body," he said, patting his stomach.  
"Maybe you shouldn't eat any then," I suggested. Jin shook his head and pouted childishly.  
"C'mon, it was just one, okay maybe two. What could eating two ice cream sundaes possibly d... d..." he trailed off. His eyes grew wide and he clutched his abdomen in pain. He leaned sideways and fell out of his chair to the floor. Furion and I rose instantly.  
"J-Jin, are you okay?" I asked, kneeling beside him. He just held his stomach and moaned in pain. I looked up at Furion in desperation.  
"He's been having stomach pains for several days now, ever since he left my planet," stated the green alien. I gazed back at my friend with an over baring feeling of helplessness. I didn't know what to do. Suddenly, I heard Furion gasp and I followed his gaze to the back of Jin's pants, just below the belt. Something was bulging out of it, trying to get out. The more it bulged, the more Jin groaned and grimaced in pain. All of a sudden, to my great surprise, a light brown monkey tail burst out of Jin's pants and he grew silent and his eyes closed.  
"What just happened, Furion!?" I demanded, totally freaked out. Everyone in the café was staring at us and the Namekian seemed uneasy.  
"I don't like this," he said, lifting his unconscious friend "Let's get out of here." I followed him out the door and he began to walk in the direction of their space pods.  
"Furion, is he okay? What happened?" I asked, trying to keep up with him.  
"Those stomachaches must have been the pains caused by his body creating a tail," he said, as if trying to reason it out for himself, "then that would mean...of course!! The tail, the spiky hair!! Why didn't I see it before!? The wish he made turned him into a..." He trailed off as he slowly stared up into the sky.  
"I heard Jin tell your other friends to meet back in the morning. Where are you guys gonna spend the night?" I asked. The sky was already dark and the only light came from the bright full moon that Furion was looking up at.  
"We can't stay in our pods, that's for sure. I can't risk Jin seeing the full moon," he said, halting.  
"What, he'll turn into a werewolf or something?" I asked jokingly. He gave me a glare that made me feel foolish.  
"Or something!!" he cried, "We've got to get him out of the sight of the moon before he wakes up!" I could sense a sort of panic in him as Jin stirred in his arms.  
"Well, I've got a farm on the edge of town," I told him, "you guys can stay in the barn. My dad doesn't take much to strangers, especially green ones."  
"Which direction!?" he shouted. I pointed to the south. Furion grabbed me suddenly and began hovering in the air. "Hold on!" he exclaimed as he shot off to the south at very insane speeds. I was too exasperated to say anything, I just held on for dear life.  
We arrived at the farm in no time at all and, after settling my friends into the barn, I quietly made my way inside, trying not to wake my father. The first sight I beheld was a bunch of empty beer cans scattered all over the floor. I became frightened. He'd been drinking! And I could see that Aren wasn't home either! I hurried to my room and changed into my nightgown and lay down on my bed. My father was drunk and little Aren wasn't here to stop him, so I knew that he'd come. Tears welled up in my eyes when I heard the door of my room open and the heavy footsteps of my father as he entered. He sat down on my bed beside me as I feigned sleep. He leaned over and I cringed when I felt his lips touch my neck. He passed a hand down the side of my body.  
"Daddy, no, please!" I cried, pushing his hand away sharply. That only seemed to spur the drunkard on as he raised my nightgown, exposing my underwear. It was then that I remembered what Jin told me. As he began to pull my panties off I struck him as hard as I possibly could, but that only agitated him. He slapped me across the face and I lay there quietly sobbing. My father had succeeded in taking off my underwear leaving me entirely exposed. I felt so scared and embarrassed as he leaned in closer, so close that I could smell the beer in his breath.  
Suddenly thoughts of Jin came flying through my head. We were standing about a metre apart.  
"You mustn't let people mistake your kindness for weakness," he was saying, "if anyone does, and you don't stop them, it'll be your fault that you're hurt." I shook my head vigorously.  
"I can't!" I sobbed, "I can't stop him. I've tried, and he just hit me!" Jin seemed angry with me.  
"Stand up!" he yelled at me, "Fight!!" I kept shaking my head and crying.  
"I can't, Jin, I just can't!!" I cried. The fighter's whole attitude changed in an instant. He walked up to me and took me in his arms, surprising me very much. I ceased crying and looked up at him as he embraced me. I felt some strange wave of emotions going through me that I had never felt before. He gave me a smile and wiped a rogue teardrop away from my cheek and spoke gently.  
"People will take advantage of you only if you let 'em."  
Suddenly, I blasted. I felt a sudden surge of power and anger that I had never felt before. A strange red light surrounded me as I angrily threw my father off of me with ease. I stood up and stared down at him with a look of complete wrath and it was his turn to cringe in fear. I grabbed him by the neck and lifted him, with one hand, off the floor. Inside me, a battle was being waged over what to do with him, but in the end, I found that I couldn't hurt him, no matter how badly I really wanted to. I saw the fear in his eyes and I saw myself in his fear. I didn't want to be like him. I threw him to the floor and sank to my knees, in my nakedness, just crying. My dad instantly dashed out of the room screaming that I was a demon.  
"Nikita!?" came a voice. It was Jin, the real one, tail and all. He and Furion both burst into my room. "What happened?" he queried, running up to me. Furion threw my bed blanket to Jin, who covered me. My red aura had disappeared and the dark skinned fighter embraced me, trying to calm me down, as we both sat on our knees. I told Jin everything, about my father molesting me, and about my feelings for him, in the short time we knew each other.  
"Why did you keep this a secret? There must have been someone you could have told," said Jin softly.  
"No!! If anyone finds out, they'll want to have nothing to do with me," I replied.  
"That's not true! You didn't do anything wrong anyways, and besides..." he stated, "I like you, Nikita." I looked at him in surprise. All this time I thought that Jin pitied me and 'forgot' his original advances.  
"Really!? Even though you know?" I inquired, eagerly. He nodded.  
"Even though," he answered. I felt better immediately. In Jin's arms I felt safe, safer than I had ever felt before.  
"Take me with you," I whispered, "I may not be a good fighter, but...I can learn. Please?" Jin nodded again.  
"Furion," he called, "you up for a trip?"  
"Where to?" replied the Namekian.  
"The ship. We need one more spacepod," said Jin. Furion nodded and blurred out of sight.  
"Is this feeling I have for you love, Jin?" I asked. Jin passed a hand through my auburn hair.  
"It's up to you to figure that out, Nikita, but if there's one thing I know about love it's this, if you truly love someone, that feeling doesn't easily go away." I gazed up at him.  
"That was beautiful," I whispered. Jin gave a chuckle.  
"You like that, I read it on a bumper sticker," he said. I smiled, remaining silent, and I fell asleep in his arms soon after.  
In the morning, I woke up and got dressed. Jin helped me pack my things and soon we left. Furion had returned and was waiting for us outside. We met him and all three of us made our way back to where the spacepods were. Jin's other friends were already there, with one other person, who was being held firmly by monkey boy.  
"Aren!?" I cried, looking at my cousin. Joel peered at us curiously.  
"Who's this...leader?" he asked, giving me the once over. Jin, who had hidden his tail in his jeans, introduced me to them.  
"Nice to meet you, Nikita, do you know this kid?" asked Jeran. I nodded.  
"He's my cousin. Why are you holding him?" I queried.  
"Get away Niki!! They're aliens!! And they're abducting me!!" cried Aren, struggling. Joel held him tightly.  
"We just want to recruit him," Jeran replied.  
"I guess so. Well, Aren, I'm going with them," I said.  
"You're what!?" cried Joel and Aren simultaneously, looking at me in disbelief. Jin came forward.  
"Any objections? ...Not like they'd really matter," he asked. Jeran gave a blithe grin.  
"None here," she said, "it'll be good to have another girl around." Now we looked at Joel, who released Aren from his grip.  
"I've got only one question," he said, edging away from Jeran, "Can you cook?" He narrowly dodged a punch sent from Jeran. I giggled and gave him a thumbs up.  
"Yes!!!!! There is a God!" cried Joel. Jin took this as assent and turned to Aren.  
"So, how about it, Aren? You coming with us?" he asked. The kid stared at Jin with a serious expression.  
"So, you're the leader of this outfit, eh?" he began, entering his fighting stance, "Fine, if you beat me, I'll join you." Jin raised an eyebrow and to my surprise he assumed his own fighting stance, which was almost exactly like Furion's. I couldn't believe it; I was finally going to see Jin fight. Aren started things off, running into Jin. He sent a kick at the dark skinned fighter's head, but it only sliced air as Jin stood up straight and then cut a 90-degree angle turn, sticking one foot forward. The result was that Aren ran straight past Jin, tripping over his outstretched foot, and Jin grabbed the back of Aren's shirt, holding him before he could fall. Surprised, and feeling a bit foolish, Aren sent a backfist aimed at Jin's face. However the blow struck Jin's open palm and, still clutching the back of Aren's shirt, he shot a kick that connected with the kid's back. He finished him off by finally letting go of Aren's shirt and, with one quick punch, punished my cousin. Aren skidded across the ground and lay there for a while in shock. Jin turned to face him and loosened up.  
"You need more practice, Aren, you're too slow," he said nonchalantly, aiding my little Aren, "What's his powerlevel, Jeran?"  
"He's 1730," she replied, "Where's your scouter, Jin? You too, Furion?" I gazed at them and noticed that they both lacked the device that had been over their eyes.  
"They...uh...they broke," explained Jin, closing his eyes and smiling sheepishly.  
"How is that possible? Those scouters can read even into the early tens of thousands before breaking and none of us are that powerf..." Joel trailed off and stared at me, "Jin, Furion, how powerful is she!?" Furion and Jin glanced at each other.  
"Let's just say, I would try to check her power while she's powering up again," said Furion, leaving Joel spellbound. Aren had been silent for a while and I turned to him.  
"Looks like we're going on a journey, eh Aren?" I told him. A smile crossed his lips.  
"Yeah, looks like it," he replied.  
"Alright then, let's go. Nikita are you up for sharing your pod?" queried Jin. I gave him a seductive smile and puckered my lips.  
"Only if it's with you Jin," I said softly. Even with his dark skin we could all see him blush. Joel tried to stifle a snicker and gently nudged Jin with his elbow.  
"Way to go Jin!" he whispered, causing Jeran and me to laugh. Jin pushed him off lightly.  
"Cut it out!" he ordered, regaining his composure, "As much as I would like that, Nikita, I mean..."  
"I know what you meant, Jin. Come on, Aren!" I called. And so we left, to begin our new life, our training, with our new friends.  
  
CHARACTES RECRUITED INITIAL P/LVL  
AREN 1730  
NIKITA 27,050  
  
SOUNDTRACK: WASH AWAY THOSE YEARS by Creed 


	6. Jin's Dilemma

Chapter 5: Jin's dilemma  
Jin  
  
"One more time, Aren. This time do the whole thing," I instructed. The kid looked at me impatiently.  
"Jin, how long do I have to do this stupid kata?" he asked.  
"'Till you get it right. Aren, this kata helps you to concentrate your ki into a visible form," I explained, "Niki's already mastered her ki manipulation." I glanced over to the other side of the training area where Jeran and Nikita were sparring. I smiled. She had been training for only a week, but with such enthusiasm and discipline that she had already developed into an average martial artist. Joel and Furion were maintaining a hyperfight far above our heads.  
"When am I gonna learn how to fight like that?" asked Aren, following my gaze.  
"Okay kid, let's do the kata together one last time. If you get it right, I promise that you'll be hyperfighting in no time. Let's go!" I stated. We moved in sync with each other. Aren knew the slow movements of the kata very well; all he couldn't do was manifest his ki. We slowly brought our hands over her heads in what looked like some weird stretch and then, to complete the kata we rotated our arms in a clockwise direction until our hands were cupped.  
"This is it Aren! Concentrate!" I shouted. Already my green aura encompassed me and I zanzokened a few metres away so that I faced Aren, my hands still cupped. "Concentrate kid! Feel the power flowing through you! Use your willpower to make it visible!" I instructed, gathering ki into my cupped hands. Aren's whole body began to tremble.  
"I can...I can feel it!!" he cried, a crimson aura covering his body. His cupped hands were a bit unsteady, but sure enough a small ball of ki became visible.  
"Then let it out!" I screamed, "...Makou..." Aren and I both threw our beams forward.  
"...Sen!!!" the kid finished. There was a flash of light when our beams collided.  
"Good Aren. Keep at it!!" I shouted. Jeran and the others had ceased their fights to view our blast duel. Aren began to push harder and his beam slowly began to cut through my own. I smiled as I upped the intensity of my beam as well. I remembered when I was in Aren's shoes, when I had first learned to use ki and my first blast duel against Master Trump after he taught me the kata. Pretty soon, it became obvious that Aren couldn't hold on any longer so I let go of my beam and smacked the red beam away before I could hit me. Aren collapsed after a few seconds and Nikita ran up to help him up.  
"You did it kid, see it wasn't too hard, was it?" I asked him. Aren sucked his teeth.  
"I can't move and I feel weak...what the hell do you think!!?" he cried, as Nikita helped him out of the training area. I was about to comment but the ship's computerized voice interrupted me. It announced an incoming message from the headmaster. "I guess this cuts training short. Everyone meet in the bridge in ten minutes," I ordered, "Computer return gravity controls to 1G." I felt as I as if a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I stretched my limbs to loosen up and made my way to the bridge. I punched a few buttons on the console and the headmaster's face came on screen.  
"Yes, sir?" I asked, taking a seat.  
"Jin, everything going okay? No problems with Joel?" he asked. I shook my head and sat down. "You seem different? Stronger somehow. What's your powerlevel now?" he continued.  
"6500 when I last checked, sir," I replied, "We've gotten three new recruits, so far." He nodded.  
"I can only assume that this young lady is one of them," he stated, looking past me. I took a glance backward and noticed that Nikita was also there.  
"Hi!! I'm Nikita!" she said, bowing slightly. A large sweatdrop graced the side of my head. "Pleased to meet you, sir," she finished.  
"Same here," the headmaster replied, "anyway, where're the others? I need to speak with you all." Fifteen minutes later all six of us were assembled in the bridge. After I introduced Furion and Aren, Red got down to business.  
"Jeran, your father, the mayor of the human city on Planet Nedan, has asked for the academy's assistance in a very important matter," he started. Planet Nedan's human city? That's where I came from! "Two weeks ago, a large spacecraft landed there outside of the city. The aliens are hostile and threatened to destroy the entire planet. The general public is completely oblivious to the peril they're in. Jeran's father made sure not to let it leak. There'd be mass hysteria," continued Red.  
"If these aliens are so hostile, why isn't Nedan just a pile of space dust by now? I mean, they've been there for two weeks," said Joel, folding his arms. He waved his tail around and skillfully whipped it around his waist. There were mixed reactions when my comrades found out that I had become a Saiyan. Jeran was confused that I should choose to become that which I hated. Truth be told, I had no idea that what I wished for would turn me into one. Joel had been enraged, at first, as he was supposed to be the last full blooded Saiyan left, but eventually he eased into the idea. In fact, he even appeared honoured.  
"I was getting to that, Joel. They're giving the mayor some time to get some 'worthy fighters' to challenge them," said Red. I had to admit that it was a bit strange of those aliens to do that, but I kept it to myself.  
"And let me guess, we're those worthy fighters?" I asked.  
"Correct. Jeran, I think your father would be pleased to see you again. You haven't been home in like, what, two or three years?" Red stated. Jeran nodded. "So I've decided to send you guys. The fight should give you all necessary experience. Good luck to you all," he finished. Jeran appeared to be ecstatic. Red nodded again and signed off.  
"It would be great to see my family again," she stated. I nodded absently.  
"Same here," I said softly. Everyone turned toward me.  
"I didn't know that you lived on Nedan, Jin," said Jeran. Joel gave a snicker and leaned against a chair. "What's so funny?" the blonde asked.  
"It was Justin who lived on Nedan, Jeran. Justin the human is dead!" he replied, pointing at me, "This is Jin, a mighty Saiyan warrior!" Instantly I picked up his meaning and I felt a pang of emotion go through me. However, I kept my cool, barely, and remained silent. Nikita confronted me.  
"Jin, what're they talking about? Who's Justin?" she inquired.  
"Someone who died a while back," I answered, "enough of this. It'll take three days to reach Nedan and we'll need to be ready for anything. Till then, train at your own discretion." Without giving them any time to respond I turned and left the bridge. I headed back to my room and dropped onto my bed in fatigue.  
"Nedan," I whispered to myself, sitting up suddenly. Thoughts of my life there, my friends and my family, came to me and I fished out a photograph from one of my bed head drawers. It was a picture of my family, friends and I taken six years ago, just before I entered the academy. Most likely, if I had deciphered Joel's hidden message efficiently, everyone in this photograph, everyone who I cared about and who cared about me, thought I was dead.  
I hadn't been in touch with my family much during my first four years at the academy and when Joel sold me off, he had told my family that I had died, probably in battle alongside former headmaster Razz. That would have been the most convenient and believable story. I wanted to cry. I felt the hurt, but I couldn't bring myself to cry. All the tears had been shed during my year in captivity. I just stared hard at the photograph. It was then I felt Nikita's ki just outside my room.  
During the week that I had known her, Nikita kept acting like an overprotective girlfriend. She would constantly fret over the extremely long hours that I trained and she'd also stay up late to train with me if I decided to put in some late exercise. Despite the fact that she cooked and watched me eat, she'd always ask if I ate well. The girl even bought me a full wardrobe of clothes on one of our stops when she found out that I only possessed one outfit other than my gis and uniforms. I didn't complain, however, I enjoyed her company. She was the only person who I could really talk to on this ship.  
I quickly pulled myself together and told her to come in.  
"Hey, you," she greeted me cheerfully, sitting beside me, "How is everything going?"  
"Cool, so far...how's the training going with Jeran?" I asked. Nikita turned to me, her brown hair trailing after her. She instantly started chatting away; about how hard it was and so on, but I soon stopped listening. I loved her voice, the way she rolled her r's and the way her small body could project such an amazing voice, but right at that moment I just stared at her. She was very beautiful and, to me, there seemed to be some divinity in her face. She was an avatar, a goddess in human form, and the only person who could possibly understand the turmoil I was going through emotionally.  
"Jin...are you listening?" she asked, suddenly wrenching me out of my thoughts. I turned my gaze to the photograph once more and didn't respond. "Jin...?" she queried, "something's bothering you. I've noticed it since we were in the bridge. Come on, you can tell me." I handed her the picture and gazed into her cerulean eyes.  
"We look happy, don't we?" I asked her, "My mom, sister and I? Not to mention my two friends."  
"This kid is you?" she asked. I nodded. "You're chubby," she giggled. I stared silently at her smiling face and it was then I realized that I would do anything to keep that smile on her face, absolutely anything. I permitted myself to smile slightly at this personal revelation, realizing that I cared for her more than anything, and I turned my head back to the picture. Nikita gasped when a teardrop landed on it and she hastily watched me. Tears fell down my cheeks, feeling a bit strange to me, as I still had the small smile on my face.  
"Niki," I said, as more teardrops followed the first, "Remember when I said that Justin was dead..." I told her everything, about my past ordeals and, as I did, visions of my torture invaded my mind. The poking, the prodding, it all came back to me. The constant carving of my flesh, cutting without even using anesthesia to numb the pain. Visions of me being strapped up to machines, being tortured for hours on end, were all there, and finally visions of me crying; shedding tears over my greatest pain of all. The fact that Joel, my best friend, my 'big brother', had been responsible for putting me there in the first place.  
As I talked I felt a strong wave of lividity pass through me. I saw Joel's taunting smirk in my mind and I hated it. I rose to my feet suddenly, startling Nikita, and let out an antagonistic roar as I sped out of my room, angrily tracking my rival's ki.  
"Jin!!" cried Nikita, racing after me. My anger increased steadily and my tail swayed around as if it somehow felt it too. I found Joel in the training area sparring with Furion. He was totally oblivious to the peril he was in until my fist found it's way to his abdomen. He was caught completely unawares and couldn't even get over the shock of my initial attack. My blow sent him crashing into the lead wall, cracking it five metres in all directions. I was on him instantly, hammering away at his face with my fists and then some. Each blow sent him deeper into the wall. Finally I did a crescent kick, which connected with his chin and made him break through the wall. Ignoring the pleas of Niki and Furion to cease my seemingly unprovoked assault, I pounced on his body before he could land on the floor of the next room I guided my punches to his face once again, reducing it to a mass of blood and bruises. Joel only now seemed to recover from his shock, but was in too much of a bad condition to protect himself. Eventually I rose off of my prey and peered down at him with a grin of satisfaction.  
"Now, Joel, now I see why you beat on people weaker than you are!" I yelled, kicking his downed, bloodied form. The Saiyan in me was finally rearing its ugly head. "It's like you said. I'm Jin, a mighty Saiyan warrior," I said, my smile suddenly being replaced by a hateful frown, "that's right Joel, I'm even mightier than you!!" I raised my right hand, palm facing Joel, and poured all of my ki into it. Just then, I felt someone's arms wrap around me from behind.  
"Jin, please stop it!" pleaded Nikita, "I will stop you. Please don't make me do this!" I used my free hand to rip off my upper gi, revealing my viciously scarred and tainted torso. Nikita's grip relaxed as she took a step backward and stared at it in horror. "Oh...my...oh my god!!" she cried, tears welling up in her eyes.  
"You won't do it," I said, softly. I knew that she sure as hell had the power to. Recovering from her shock, she rested her head on my back, embracing me once again.  
"Jin, I think I've figured out this feeling," she told me, "I do love you Jin. Don't make me do this...don't become like him..." What she said made me hesitate a bit, and I even considered giving in, but then Joel had to go and open his big mouth.  
"Go ahead, Jin," he taunted, staring directly into my open palm, "do it!!" I was more than happy to oblige. I fired the beam in my hand at him and almost immediately a blinding light came from Nikita's hands, which lay on my chest. I felt her force at once and lost consciousness, just before whispering these words to a sobbing Nikita, "I love you too..."  
  
"Justin!! Please don't go!!" cried the little girl behind me. I glanced  
back at her and noticed the tears trickling down her cheeks.  
"I've got to go, Julia. Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it,  
"I consoled. My little sister watched me eagerly.  
"You mean it?" she queried, drying her eyes. I nodded and opened my  
arms to her  
"Sure do. C'mon give your big brother a hug. The next time you see me  
I'll be a strong fighter!" I exclaimed. Julia started running up to me,  
but before she reached me, she tripped herself and fell flat on her face  
in front of me.  
"Y' know, you really are a clumsy seven year old," I observed, helping  
her up, "twit."  
  
I don't know for how long I floated in that Rejuv tank before I realized that I was still alive. I opened my eyes, removed the oxygen mask from my face and kicked the door to the tank open. As the bioliquid poured out, I began to feel my limbs again.  
"Nikita wasn't kidding," I muttered as I crawled out of the tank, "I think she hit me at full power!" My body ached all over, but otherwise I seemed alright. I made my way to my quarters, groping the walls for support, took a shower and donned my blue uniform armor. A quick ki trace made me realize that only Aren, Furion and I were on the ship.  
"Where'd everyone go?" I asked myself. If they weren't on the ship where were they? They couldn't have gone outside...unless. A quick trip to the bridge confirmed it. "What the...? We're on Nedan already!? How long was I out for?" I exclaimed.  
"Four days," came Furion. He was seated in one of the passenger seats, "your estimation was correct. We arrived here yesterday." I took a seat at the pilot's console.  
"Where are the others? Did the fight begin?" I inquired. The Namekian shook his head. Just then, Aren burst into the room, a scared look on his face.  
"Furion, Jin's gone!!" he cried. It was then he noticed me at the pilot's console. "Oh...never mind then," he stated, sitting next to Furion.  
"Jeran, Joel and Nikita went to the city hall to meet up with Jeran's father. We finally got Nikita to come out of the Med room. She didn't want to leave your side," began Furion, "I had to promise to look after you for her, though."  
"Are you mad at Niki?" Aren asked suddenly. The question caught me off guard.  
"NO!!...No! Of course not!" I exclaimed, "Why would you even ask?"  
"She's been afraid you would be," said Aren. I took this all in.  
"I'm going outside," I said, attaching a scouter to my ear, "You guys go on ahead to the city hall. I need some time to think." I left the ship and set foot on my home planet for the first time in six years.  
Although the human area of Nedan was considered a city, it was in fact, the size of a continent. In order to get to different side of the city, one had to take a series of shuttles. It was big alright, but I still knew it like the back of my hand. After a few hours I found myself in my old neighbourhood. Nothing had really changed much. I sat down on a bench for a while, just taking it all in.  
Suddenly, I was thrown off my feet and sprawled out over the sidewalk. A small gray and white dog, a pug to be precise, had jumped me. It now stood on my chest wagging its stump of a tail and licking me furiously on the face.  
"Ugh...dog drool," I said, lifting the dog off of me, "Hey I know you! You're..."  
"Iggy! Get back here!" shouted a guy who was running up to me. He had long, flowing platinum hair and his face had a weird kind of feminine look to it. He was of average height and build and wore a white sleeveless jersey and jeans. There was a strange S shaped mark on his upper arm and over his shoulder hung a rather large duffel bag. "Sorry about that," he apologized as I handed him the dog, "Should have kept him on a leash." I knew this guy!  
"No problem," I told him, "Hey...uh, aren't you Ken Haman?" The guy gave me a confused look.  
"Yeah...It's strange, I'm sure that I know you from somewhere," he answered. I smiled and removed my scouter from over my eye. Ken squinted for a second, and then a grin of realization crossed his lips.  
"Justin Senga!" he cried, dropping the dog and the duffel bag to the floor, "man! It's sure been a long time. I noticed the uniform. So, you came back from the academy, huh?" Now it was my turn to be confused. This wasn't the reaction I was expecting from someone who should be thinking that I was dead.  
"Uh...yeah, that's right. What about you? You look as though you're coming from somewhere yourself," I observed. The grin quickly left my old friend's face.  
"Yeah...Right after you joined the CC Nexus academy, I entered the CC Lunar academy," he explained. That explained a great deal. If Ken was away at school he wouldn't have heard of my 'death'.  
"And you came to visit as well." I concluded. Ken lowered his head.  
"Actually, um...I was expelled," he corrected, causing me to gasp, "See, there's this tournament on Earth in just under a year and when I wasn't chosen to participate I complained, and well here I am." I put on my scouter and read Ken's powerlevel.  
"Ken, you're a solid 10,000!!" I exclaimed. He nodded.  
"I know. They didn't choose me because I was too weak," he said, giving a shrug, "I wonder what I'll tell my parents." I was bedazzled by this piece of info. If the Lunar academy considered a powerlevel of 10,000 too weak...  
"Ken, why don't you join our team?" I suggested, "I'm searching for strong fighters to participate in that same tournament. You could join the Nexus' team and just tell your parents you got a transfer or something." Just by the look on his face I could tell that he was ecstatic about the idea.  
"R-really!?" he cried, "Sure, man...of course I'll join!!"  
"It's a deal then," I stated, "C'mon, let's go see Cris and everyone else."  
As would be expected, we each had a great deal to talk about. While we searched for our friend Cris at his usual haunts, we chatted non-stop. Cris was nowhere to be found but there was still one place we hadn't checked.  
The Budokan dojo was the only place I knew of that could train fighters as good as the academy. Ken, Cris and I had frequented the dojo when we were kids. It was just a one-tiered building, painted in red, with a large sign that displayed the word 'Budokan' in Japanese.  
As we came up to the place, a great feeling of nostalgia consumed me for a moment, but then my mind was ripped out of the past when my scouter activated.  
"What's this?" I queried, my hand hovering over my ear, "Furion, and Aren too. What are they doing here?" Ken glanced at me curiously.  
"Who're they?" he asked. I began to walk toward the entrance of the dojo before I answered him.  
"Your new teammates," I replied, opening the door. It was like walking into a church during a funeral service. A sudden hush fell over the room that, quite rightfully made me nervous and all eyes fell on us. It was then that I saw Aren. His uniform was tattered and he knelt on one knee. On the other side of the room I sensed my green companion's ki. Furion was in his trademark stance, breathing heavily and sweating profusely. Facing him was a blue haired guy, who was also in a fighting stance, breathing heavily.  
"You're good," commended Furion, still maintaining his stance.  
"So are you," said his opponent, "It's pointless to continue. No one will win." With that, they both stood up and relaxed. Suddenly, a dark skinned girl in an all white gi stepped forward and rebuked the blue haired guy.  
"You give up too easily, Cris. You can beat him if you try!" she cried. She didn't even give the bewildered Cris a chance to reply. She gracefully assumed a stance in front of Furion and beckoned him to attack. I stepped in front of Furion, facing the girl.  
"I'll handle this, Furion, you go help Aren," I instructed. The Namekian nodded in reply and went to the kid. I began to stretch and then dropped back into my fighting stance.  
"You academy punks can't even protect your own. What makes you think you can beat me?" the girl asked with a hint of bitterness in her voice.  
"Let's just say that I have some confidence in my abilities," I answered with a wry smile.  
"I am Julia Senga of the Budokan!" she shouted, causing me to gasp, "you're going down!" I stared at this girl from head to toe in surprise. This was my sister! I didn't have time to think about it, because she rushed at me just then. I leaned backward just in time to avoid a punch sent my way. I parried another punch and retaliated with a sidekick to her stomach. She put her arms up in a cross block but the force of the blow caused her to skate backwards for a few seconds. I shot a kick into empty air and fell back into my fighting stance. She darted across the room at me again. Her fist met with mine as we went at it. I didn't want to hurt my sister so I decided to hold back, a decision which earned me a kick to my cheek. Julia followed up with two punches, which I dodged easily, and she surprised me by shooting a small ki blast at me. I did a backflip to avoid being hit and fired one, much larger, back at her. It hit her in the chest and sent her flat on her back. I folded my arms as Julia picked herself off of the floor.  
"Is that all you can do Julia?" I queried with a smirk, "cause if it is..." I trailed off and shrugged.  
With a shout of anger she came at me a third time. I prepared myself for an attack, but I didn't have to. Before she reached me, she tripped herself and fell flat on her face in front of me. A reminiscing smile crossed my lips as I held out my hand to help her up. She rudely ignored my hand but I hoisted her up regardless.  
"You're still a clumsy twit," I commented. That got her attention. She slowly backed away, staring at me in shock and disbelief.  
"W-what did you say?" she asked, closely scrutinizing my face.  
"I called you a clumsy twit Julia, you know, that's what I called you the last time I saw you," I said.  
"C'mon Julia!" cried Ken, "don't tell me you don't even recognize your big bro!" Cris and Julia both turned toward him for a second. My sister took some more steps backward.  
"You can't ...be Justin," she whimpered, creeping closer, "can you?"  
"The academy lied, Julia. I'm still very much alive and I came back, just like I promised," I said, opening my arms to her, "aren't you gonna give your big brother a hug?"  
"By Kami!!" exclaimed Cris, running a hand through his blue hair, "It is you!" Tears trickled down my sister's cheeks as she inched herself closer to me.  
"Justin?" she called. Before I could even nod a reply she jumped into my arms, sobbing uncontrollably with joy.  
"That's right, Jules. I'm back...Justin's back.  
  
CHARACTERS RECRUITED INITIAL P/LVL  
KEN 10,000  
  
SOUNDTRACK: INSIDE OUT by Eve 6. 


	7. Saiyan Secrets

Chapter 6: Saiyan Secrets.  
Joel  
  
"What do you want?" I barked. Jeran flinched. "I just wanted to check if you're alri..." she began.  
"Couldn't have been better," I interrupted with my trademark smirk.  
Jeran, Nikita and I were a mile outside the city limits, where we spied on the alien spacecraft. We were on a cliff, overlooking the desert that spread forth for miles.  
"I still think we should wait for Jin and Furion," said Nikita, who sat on the edge, with her legs dangling over. Jeran nodded in agreement.  
"If the newbie wants to sleep, let him sleep," I chuckled. Nikita immediately went on the offensive.  
"Jin wouldn't be in that Rejuv tank if you didn't egg him on!! I wouldn't have had to hurt him..." she shouted, "You're just bitter because he's stronger than you are!"  
The fool. She had no idea.  
"Feh...whatever," I said, folding my arms. I levitated a few feet into the air to get a better look at the alien ship. It was a large, round, two- tiered vessel with oval view ports aligning its upper atmosphere.  
"It's big. The size of it suggests that there are at least ten people on board," I observed, "It also looks like a reconnaissance ship. Not the type that would wanna destroy a planet."  
"I see movement!" called Jeran, pointing to the left of the ship, "Over there!" My eyes quickly picked up seven indistinct figures moving around. I grinned.  
"Let's get 'em!!" I cried, leaping off the cliff before either Jeran or Nikita could try to dissuade me. I activated my scouter and scanned my prey. Three of them were at 8000 and the rest where in the vicinity of 3000. Four days ago I might have been intimidated but now, thanks to my Saiyan heritage and a little assistance from Jin, I was a whole damn lot stronger. I increased my speed and soon I landed in front of them, my two companions following soon after.  
I had chosen to wear my martial arts gi instead of my uniform. The gi was a great deal lighter than the uniform and it was black. I had always been fond of the colour black. It reflected my personality, cruel, ruthless and just plain cool.  
The seven aliens didn't even bother to ask questions. They began shooting ki blasts like crazy. I zanzokened away from them and returned a few of my own. My blasts struck their marks and the four weaklings fell. The two girls took over from there. Jeran ran into the three remaining soldiers, dodging ki blasts, and sank her fist into one's abdomen. Nikita appeared directly in front of another, surprising him, and shot a roundhouse kick that broke the guy's jaw on impact. The soldier uttered a stifled cry as the brunette continued her attack with a hook punch, which sent him spinning away from her. She then turned her attention to the last soldier, who was about to attack Jeran from behind.  
"Valkyrie Arrow!" she shouted, pulling back an invisible bowstring, letting the red ki arrow fly. The arrow pierced the soldier's armored cuirass and impaled him. Jeran finished up with her opponent with a gracefully performed lotus kick, her long, blonde hair trailing after her.  
I stared at them, impressed. They were better than I thought, especially Nikita. I guess all her training with Jeran and her late night training sessions with Jin really paid off. I was about to commend them when a deep voice beat me to it.  
"Very good!" the voice boomed, causing the three of us to turn toward its source. Two people stood a few metres behind us. The one who spoke had a very massive frame; he was almost three my size and extremely muscular! He was bald and possessed bushy eyebrows in a very peculiar colour, platinum. He wore a golden armored cuirass, over a black body suit and he had a cape that was tilted so that it covered the entire right side of his body. The other guy was significantly smaller than his bulky comrade, yet his muscles were still very well defined under his black body suit. The larger man was obviously a lot older.  
"Well well, Scipio. So this is how your squad ranks up against true fighters...and beautiful ones at that," the older man continued. Scipio shook his head and shrugged.  
"My men were foolish," he replied, "They didn't realize that this fighting was useless to them. They don't have a real reason to fight, so it was inevitable that they'd lose."  
"Nice speech, but we're here because someone said you were looking for strong fighters," I stated, "Well here we are!" The old man turned to me.  
"Did that pathetic excuse for a mayor send you? That was Scipio's idea you know. Although I would have rathered he destroy this planet instead," he asked, evoking a snarl from Jeran, "It didn't have to come down to this. We're all civilized people. The mayor knows what we want."  
"Well, the mayor doesn't barter with terrorists, so I guess you're stuck with us," I said, taking a step toward them. The bald guy sighed.  
"Then I guess we have no choice. Scipio!" he said. The young warrior took a step toward me as well. He summoned forth his white aura and as it bathed him I activated my scouter, only to have it explode.  
"What the!?" I exclaimed, as Jeran and Nikita's scouters followed the fate of my own.  
"He's as strong as Master Trump!" cried Jeran. Nikita came forward.  
"I can take him," she said, although she didn't sound too convinced of herself. She was afraid, and I didn't blame her. I placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back. "I'm the only one with a powerlevel almost as high as his," she reasoned. I chuckled.  
"That may be so, but you don't have enough fighting experience," I explained, "He'd rip you to shreds. I'll handle this."  
I'd read Scipio's powerlevel. It was the last number I had seen on my scouter before it broke, 38,520. He was a hell of a lot stronger than I was, but that was no big problem. As hard as my battle was against Jin I hadn't needed to use my secret weapon. I glanced at my tail, which was, as usual, wrapped around my waist, and grinned. Despite the great difference in power between us, there could only be one possible outcome of this encounter. I would be the victor.  
We both sprinted forward, he covered the distance much more quickly than I did, of course, so we ended meeting at more the two-thirds mark. We collided with a humongous 'BANG' sound that shook the ground beneath us. We hurled punches, kicks and small ki blasts at each other, at such a rapid pace that I was certain that neither Jeran nor Nikita could see us. I must admit that I hadn't intended to start at such a fast pace, but I was forced to keep up. Our hyperfighting continued, neither of us letting up a bit. For several seconds, we darted across the desert, each of us exchanging blows, but rarely striking each other. The hyperfighting continued for a few more minutes until I knew I couldn't go on. I zanzokened away from him, perching myself on a large rock off to Scipio's right. He turned to me soon after and fired a small ki blast straight at me. Not a smart move, I thought, readying myself to swat it back at him, when suddenly the blast swerved sharply in midair and blew open the rock I stood upon. The explosion threw me up vertically, while I tried to control myself in the air. Scipio tried to capitalize on my awkward position, rocketing toward me, both fists forward, but I had anticipated such a move.  
I immersed myself in ki and scooted away from the rapidly advancing Scipio. As he drew closer I spun around, thrusting my leg out, catching him hard on the side of the head. He hovered in the air for a while, trying to clear his head. I turned back around and soon I was a safe distance away. Maybe he isn't as good as I thought, am I just wasting my time? These thoughts flowed through my mind as he and I faced off once more. This time he was crouched in a fighting stance while I hung my arms lazily off to my sides. Suddenly, he blurred out of view and I lost track of him. Of course the first place I thought he'd reappear was right behind me, so I sent a wild backfist behind me, even though I hadn't felt his ki there.  
Once I realized I'd only struck air, I tried desperately to find him. In the few panicky seconds it took for me to locate him, he'd already sprung. He had been off to my left, but was now right behind me, scaring the hell out of me. Without further delay he proceeded to kick me in the spine, roundhouse me in the neck and nail me with a hook to the temple. The first blow paralyzed me for a second, and the last sent me spinning away from him. He zanzokened to my destination and thrust his foot out striking me hard in the abdomen. I felt the air rush out of my lungs and after a second or two, Scipio followed up the attack, flying above me and axe handling me down towards the ground.  
I managed to regain control of my body, and halt my swift descent. I landed calmly and stared up high above me at my adversary. I took this time to take a good few deep breaths, unaware that Scipio was in the middle of performing an attack.  
"Scipio Blaster!!" he screamed. He opened his mouth, as wide as physically possible, condensed his ki into his chest and fired it from his gaping jaw. The white beam caught me by surprise, and almost struck me. In fact, if it weren't for my Saiyan reflexes, I would have probably been hit. It only singed my body, but completely tore through my gi's upper shirt and the weighted clothing underneath it. Only a tattered half of the shirt remained so I ripped it off and dropped it to the ground.  
While I did this though, Scipio wasted no time, zanzokening first to my right, and then a little closer to my left, before finally appearing behind me. I admit, I had been doing so well against him that I almost forgot that Scipio's powerlevel was almost one and a half times my own, so when he blew me away with two rather large ki blasts, zanzokened in front of me again, and dropkicked me back into the air, I wasn't really expecting it.  
While I was gallantly soaring through the air, he fired off two large beams in my direction. They struck me at full force, propelling me further into the air. Scipio zanzokened behind me yet again and savagely kicked me in my back. I was thrown forward, but not too far because he quickly appeared in front of me and crescent kicked me in the shoulder, plummeting me towards the desert sand at ungodly speeds. A cloud of sand filled the air when I crashed into the ground. Pain shot through my body, burning all other senses and rendering me motionless for a good few minutes. I heard Scipio's boots make contact with the ground and it was only then that I willed myself to move. I shakily rose from my sandy bed and stared coldly at my seemingly untouched opponent, my vision blurred red from battle rage and the blood that leaked from my injuries.  
"Good, this has been entertaining!" came Scipio; running a hand through his short, black hair. I gazed around and now noticed that we were further away from the city and the alien's spacecraft couldn't be seen. I spotted Jeran a little ways off in the air, but I couldn't find Nikita anywhere. Scipio's elder companion landed beside him.  
"Indeed it has been, Scipio!" he commended, "but you know what could make it even better?" Scipio shook his head. "It's a proven fact that a warrior fights at his full potential only when someone he cares about is in danger." With that, the old guy zanzokened behind Jeran, grabbed her arms tightly and shoved his knee into her back. She screamed in pain, trying desperately to free herself from his grip but couldn't. "You there!" the old timer shouted to me, "The longer you take to fight the more I'll hurt her!" He slammed his knee into her back twice more, causing her to scream some more. The screaming eventually trailed off into quiet sobbing.  
These fools! Anyone could see that she meant absolutely nothing to me. Yet why was I angered by her screams? Why did they move me? It was probably because I hated her screaming as much as her cooking. Scipio looked at me, then at his bald companion.  
"It's your move kid," he said. The old man hit Jeran once more and it was then I took action. Slowly I spread my legs and cupped my hands. This attack had never failed me yet.  
"Kamehame..." I started, gathering energy from all living things in my immediate surroundings, even my opponents. "HA!!" I screamed, aiming the beam at the old warrior. He smirked and held Jeran out in front of him so that she would take the attack, just as I expected. I zanzokened directly above him and did a bicycle kick which smashed into his bald head. Moving quickly, I reoriented myself and shot a kick at his face, nudging the tip of my boot into his left eye. The old timer let out a howl, releasing Jeran from his grip to clutch his face in pain as blood spewed out of his eye. Using what I knew to be my last bit of energy, I caught Jeran just before she hit the ground. It was then my Kamehameha wave struck its target. There was a huge explosion, stirring up another cloud of sand and smoke. I landed as softly as possible, with Jeran in my arms, and sank to my knees in exhaustion. I lay her on the sand and wiped the sweat and blood from my face.  
It took Jeran a while to realize that she was safe and when she did, she threw her arms around my neck crying uncontrollably. A strange feeling swept over me, one that I was certain I had never felt before. Her body felt...I don't know...good against my own. I found myself embracing her as well and, as I held her, a rejuvenated feeling slowly came over me. The pains that overwhelmed me calmed down significantly, and I felt that indeed I had some energy remaining.  
"Joel, you...you saved me, thank you," whispered Jeran, "I guess you really aren't a heartless monster." I let go of her, afraid of this new feeling.  
"I am, Jeran, be very assured of that fact, and don't get me wrong," I said hurriedly, mimicking Jin's dry tone, "I only did it because your squeaky screams annoyed me." She smiled and stroked my cheek.  
"Thanks anyway, Joel," she said. I felt the blood rush up to my face and quickly turned away from her. I heard the sound of footsteps and, sure enough, the old guy and Scipio headed our way at a leisurely pace. Apart from his now useless left eye, 'baldy' appeared unfazed by my Kamehameha.  
"What did I tell you, Scipio my lad? If he had hit you with that beam you would have been in the next dimension right now!" he boomed with a broad grin on his bloody face, "Singed my eyebrows with that one, he did!" Scipio's face was a mask of annoyance and he glared at me severely.  
"Lord Obsidian," he said, "I'm going to crush him like the little bug he is!" I rose to my feet and, for the first time in the fight, I assumed my fighting stance.  
"Be careful Joel," shouted Jeran. I nodded; not daring to look back at her for fear that Scipio would strike. I ran forward, so fast that my feet barely touched the ground, and started a barrage of punches and kicks which Scipio didn't even bother blocking. He dodged them all without much effort and soon matched my pace with attacks of his own. Soon the speed of our hyperfighting reached subsonic levels and sand began to cyclone around us forming a huge twister. I was surprised that I still had this much power left. The tornado propelled us upward, as we continued to fight, until we were within reach of Nedan's stratosphere.  
I had considered myself lucky to even be standing at this point, that when I actually got a breakthrough I couldn't believe it. I lodged my left knee into his abdomen, causing him to bend forward in pain, and grabbed his head with both hands and formally introduced his face to my right knee. Blood spurted out of his broken nose as he flew backward uncontrollably. I zanzokened ahead of him and drove a ki charged fist into the back of his head. I appeared to his right and punched him again. I darted all over, slamming my fists into Scipio's freefalling body. I should have known my luck would run out. Scipio reoriented himself in midair, caught one of my fists and crashed his foot into my jaw. The blow stupefied me. When I made impact with the ground this time, I knew that I wouldn't be able to get up.  
"This is it, insect!" cried Scipio, as he slowly hovered down to earth, "I've had fun playing with you." When he landed, he crouched down low. "Scipio..." he started, standing up straight and stretching his limbs outward, "BOMBER!!!" A white ball of ki surrounded the warrior's body and it quickly expanded, destroying everything in its path and heading straight at me!!  
Excruciating pain! Burning flesh! These were the last things I felt before I passed out.  
"Joel..." cried an indistinct voice, "please...wake up, you stupid Saiyan, wake up!!!" I felt a droplet of water hit my face and I slowly opened my eyes.  
"Oh...it's just Jeran..." I whispered, closing my eyes again. The blonde gave a startled cry and started shaking me.  
"Joel? Joel! Oh my God! You're alright!" she exclaimed. I opened my eyes and viewed Jeran's tear stained face.  
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I asked sitting up. What I saw greatly surprised me. The desert had been completely converted into a wasteland! How could I have survived such destruction!? I glanced at Jeran and gasped when I saw that one of her arms was severely burnt!  
"You...saved me!?" I asked, still staring at her arm. She brushed a hair away from her eyes and nodded.  
"Seems like it," she replied with a tearful smile. Why would she want to save me? I was the guy she was always ignoring, cursing or trying to decapitate! I shook away the question, afraid of what the answer might be.  
"Thanks..." I said softly, ripping a piece of cloth from the remainder of my gi. I created a makeshift poultice and carefully wrapped it around her burnt arm. She looked as surprised as I was feeling inwardly.  
"Jo-Joel...?" she gasped, "Th-thank you."  
"Where'd they go?" I asked, trying to change to subject. She pointed in the direction of the alien spaceship. "Jeran, I need you to go and get Jin," I ordered, "but don't come back with him." She was about to protest when I placed a finger on her lips. "Go on...I want you to get into a Rejuv tank and stay there. I won't let you get hurt because of me again." We stared at each other for a while before she nodded. She aided me in getting up.  
"Wh-what're you going to do, Joel?" she asked. I shook my head and gently pushed her away.  
"Never mind that. Go on!!" I shouted. She glanced at me for a second and then left.  
I knew that it would probably have to come down to this. I would have to use my secret weapon. I went airborne and, dodging the tornado that Scipio and I had created earlier, flew off toward Scipio's ship. It didn't take long for me to find them and I landed heavily behind them.  
"Giving up so soon Scipio?" I asked tauntingly. Both Scipio and Obsidian whirled around in surprise.  
"Impossible!! No one has ever survived that attack!" cried Scipio, angrily. I shrugged and unwrapped my tail from around my waist.  
"Guess I just don't feel like becoming a statistic today, but here's the thing...you just did," I said, powering up a bright ball of ki behind my back, "You're going to be the second person to ever force me to use my secret weapon!" With that, I hurled the ball of ki high into the air and almost instantly, without even looking up at it, I felt the rage, the fear, the instinctive hatred of all things living. When I did look at the bright ball of ki in the sky I found myself beginning to levitate and my blue aura encompassed me, sparks of electricity surrounding it. I felt my muscles begin to bulge and I let out an animalistic roar. I began to sprout fangs and my face extended very slowly to form a snout.  
I saw the fear in Scipio's eyes as he slowly started to shrink before me and it drove my transformation. My muscles burst through the remnants of my gi and fur began to cover my body. Then I lost myself to the Oozaru within. The bloodlust became insatiable...  
  
CHARACTERS RECRUITED INITIAL P/LVL  
--------- ----  
  
SOUNTRACK: HEADSTRONG by Trapt 


	8. Monkey business

Chapter 7: Monkey Business  
Furion  
  
The Saiyans were a race of natural born fighters that were no strangers to my people. They were mercenaries, doing anything, including destroying entire worlds, for money. Some even did it for their own personal pleasure. However, their own greed turned out to be their downfall as one of their clients, the heir to the Cold Empire, Freeza, destroyed their planet, Vegeta, wiping out the entire race save for a few. The Saiyan prince Vegeta was on a mission at the time, as were his two servants, Nappa and Raditz. A Saiyan rebel, Turlis, who had been banished from planet Vegeta earlier, had set up a colony on another planet for him and his few hundred followers. These were all killed off in a separate incident. Then, finally, there was a Saiyan child, no more than a day old, who had been sent to Earth to conquer it as he grew up. This child, the brother of Raditz, was injured upon landing on Earth and subsequently forgot his mission and, because of this, he grew up to be the savior of the earth and the greatest warrior the universe had ever known. His name was Goku and it was he, with the help of the Saiyan prince Vegeta, who finally defeated all the heirs of the Cold Empire. It had been on our first planet Namek that Goku had defeated the destroyer of his race, Freeza, and on our new planet Namek that he and Vegeta had destroyed his brother, Koola. This was over a hundred years ago. By now, the Saiyan blood should have been diluted through generations of interbreeding with humans, seeing as there were only two surviving full-blooded Saiyans at the time, Goku and Vegeta, but there was Joel, a statistical impossibility, a full-blooded Saiyan. And now, there was Jin.  
We were taught, as we grew up, to fear them, to never engage them in combat and, of course, we learned of their Oozaru transformation as well; which occurred when a Saiyan who still had a tail looked at a full moon or any good substitute. The elders back on Namek said that when they transform, it was as if they go crazy, losing all control and destroying whatever they can. That, according to my Master Trump, was not true. There was just a peerless bloodlust that rushed through a Saiyan's blood at all times and when they transform it magnifies immensely. All that happens is that they have a somewhat crazy urge to destroy everything in their path when they transform. Unless there was something for them to focus on destroying, they'd go on a senseless rampage, just to fill some sort of biological urge.  
I was at the apartment of Jin's family when I first sensed Joel's ki. Jin's mother had just gone through all the theatrics of a mother greeting a long lost child. He had a difficult time explaining his tail to everyone. Normally I would have been interested in the discussion, but Joel's ki patterns puzzled me at first I thought he was just training back at the ship because, for a while the patterns were normal, as if he were training. His ki rose and then dropped a little while later. It went along this pattern for half an hour before his ki dropped so low that I couldn't even feel it, which was very unusual.  
"So, Furion, you're the one that my Justin calls his best friend?" asked his mother, suddenly.  
"Maybe..." I replied, still trying to find Joel's ki. Jin almost fell over with that one.  
"C'mon Furion!! You know you're my best friend, man. We trained together!" he cried.  
"I thought that you reserved that title for Nikita," I retorted with a grin. He shook his head furiously.  
"No, no Furion, you've got it mixed up. Niki's my girlfriend, you're my best friend, "he explained.  
"Justin, you even have a girlfriend?" queried his mother, causing a large sweatdrop to fall from my spiky haired friend's head, "you didn't mention that." While Jin tried to get himself out of the predicament I had gotten him into I focused in on Joel's ki.  
It had risen, once more, to normal levels and stayed there for quite a while before dropping sharply. It was almost as if he were in a real fight...  
"Furion, somethin' botherin' ya?" came Aren, breaking my concentration, "you look distracted." I nodded.  
"Aren, do you sense Joel's ki?" I asked. The kid shrugged.  
"I still haven't gotten that ki trackin' thing down yet. Why?" he said.  
"I think he went to fight the aliens without us," I whispered. Aren was shocked.  
"Aw man!! Jeran and Niki are with him!" he cried. The mentioning of Nikita's name caught Jin's attention. Suddenly, there was a tremendous leap in Joel's powerlevel. The numbers on my scouter kept rising and when it broke, left me in a state of shock. Jin and Aren's scouters both shattered as well.  
"One hundred and sixty thousand!!?" exclaimed Jin, rising to his feet. So, Jin had been reading Joel's ki all along. His old friends noticed the tension in the air.  
"What's wrong, you guys?" asked Cris.  
"How could Joel's ki be so friggin' high!?" inquired the dark skinned Saiyan, ignoring the question. There was only one possible reason, and, in the distance, my sensitive ears picked up a monstrous bellowing that confirmed my suspicions. "The idiot went to fight without us!" Jin continued, running to a window, "Furion, Aren, let's go!" We left, Jin leaping from rooftop to rooftop, while Aren and I put all we had into our Buku-jutsu techniques in order to keep up with him.  
As we drew closer to the outskirts of the city, the bellowing became audible to Aren and Jin and they halted immediately.  
"What's making that sound, guys?" asked Aren, who was visibly shaken.  
"It's Joel. He's transformed into an Oozaru," I answered, and after seeing my friends' puzzled faces I proceeded to elaborate.  
"So that's how Joel's ki got so high," realized Jin, peering down at his own tail. I knew what he was thinking. He was wondering if he could turn into an Oozaru also.  
"Hey! You guys!! Up here!" yelled a voice from above. We glanced up and saw Nikita, with one hand holding on to a wounded Jeran and her free arm she waved at us. She slowly descended onto the rooftop that Jin stood upon.  
"Are you guys alright?" queried Jin, hurrying up to them. Nikita shook her head.  
"Things are bad. Joel's fighting a guy called Scipio, who's as strong as your Master Trump. Joel's losing..." she began.  
"Not anymore," interjected Jin, "If that guy's only as strong as Trump then he doesn't stand a chance against the Oozaru."  
  
"The what?" came Jeran. I landed beside Jin and sighed.  
"Long story," I said, "Nikita, you'd better get her to a Rejuv tank quickly. That burn doesn't look too good. The brunette nodded and was about to leave when Jin called her. She turned back and they stared at each other for a second.  
"I...just wanted to apologize for making you...you know...do what you did...and it won't happen again," he said, stepping forward, "and...I'm definitely not angry with you for it". Before Nikita even got a chance to respond, Jin took her in his arms and kissed her. Nikita's face promptly grew bright red and a joyful smile graced her face.  
"It's n-no p-problem Jin..." she stuttered, the smile still on her face. The pair continued watching each other all 'lovey dovey' and I decided it would be best for me to step in before Jeran passed out.  
"Well, I really hate to interrupt this obviously human moment, but Jeran does seem to be in an awful lot of pain," I said, finally getting their attention off of each other. Nikita kissed Jin quickly on the lips and flew off, with Jeran, back towards the ship.  
We continued on our path and when Jin ran out of rooftops to cross he leapt high into the air, where I caught him.  
"Thanks for the lift," he stated with a grin, as we flew into the desert. Landing there would be difficult. The desert was a wasteland; the ground was shaking violently causing waves of sand to form heading outwards. The sky here was dark, the only light coming from a few bolts of lightning and an extremely bright ball of ki floating high above us. It was really a sight to behold, but at the same time it was scary. I was sure that I, with my powerlevel of 12,397, could have done this to the desert using every last ounce of my power, killing myself in the process, but the overgrown ape that was now Joel was just walking and shaking it. I really didn't want to be there right then, but I had no choice as Jin told me to drop him off behind Joel. It was then that we saw for the first time, the true extent of the Oozaru's power. Whereas he could shake the entire desert by walking, the epicenter of his earthquakes caused the land to literally tear itself apart. Rocks were falling off of mountainsides and often the mountains themselves, which were to the east of the desert, were splitting apart. Joel's roaring and the crashing of the mountains assaulted my sensitive eardrums.  
I dropped Jin onto a stable piece of land and Aren and I landed beside him. The large, brown form of the Oozaru was seemingly unaware of our presence; fortunately for us, he just trampled after someone. The man, we assumed he was Scipio, rushed frantically away from Joel at full speed, but it was no use. The Oozaru's legs were too big for him. With just a steady trot Joel caught up to him. Right before Joel was on him, Scipio turned at the last second and shot at him with a ki immersed jump kick. Joel tried to catch him in the air, but the warrior moved quickly. He struck Joel's stomach and bounced right off, falling to the sand underneath the Oozaru's hovering foot. Joel brought his whole weight down on Scipio's motionless body. A sickening crunching sound snapped through the air, as a muffled scream came from under Joel's paw. He screwed his foot like he was putting out a cigarette, before lifting it to the side of Scipio's body.  
To our great surprise, the black haired warrior was still alive, twitching with movement, his arms and legs left in deformed positions. Joel watched him like a cat watches a mouse before it eats it; saw him squirm onto his side and then with a great push, onto his stomach. I was more amazed than anything when he pushed himself up from the sandy ground. The pain was clearly visible on his face, yet he got up, using only his right arm as his left was immensely disfigured. One would think that Joel would finish him off right then and there but all he did was continue to stare at Scipio.  
"Jin!" I heard Aren shout. I turned to face my companions and gasped when I saw Jin. He was crouched low, his spiky hair and his tail flailing around wildly. His gloved hands clutched aimlessly at his face and I swore that I could hear him growling.  
"Jin...you alright?" I asked. The large vein pulsing in his forehead told me that he wasn't. His breathing was hard and laboured.  
"I...I feel strange..." he hoarsely whispered, "I...ugh!!" His muscles expanded suddenly and even through the thick, blue armor I could see the outlines of bulging veins in his arms. "I think I'm transforming..." he continued.  
"Jin! Fight it!! Will yourself not to transform!" I yelled. After all, it was just a substitute, not the full moon he had looked at, he could fight it. Couldn't he?  
Eventually Jin's muscles shrank back to their original size and he slowly stood up. There were still veins in his tense neck and he was sweating profusely, but, otherwise he seemed alright. So, a Saiyan could resist the transformation if it was a substitute. I was glad. I didn't want to be in the middle of two killing machines, especially two who had it out for each other.  
I turned my attention back toward Joel, who was still staring at Scipio. For a second, I thought that he considered letting Scipio live, but I was mistaken. With a sudden backhanded smack the Oozaru sent the already broken fighter skating back into a sand dune. Joel clenched his huge right hand into a fist and brought it heavily down on Scipio's limp body. Just before he made contact, my ears picked up a buzzing sound and suddenly his fist stopped in midair.  
We looked around to find what had prevented the Oozaru's victory but found nothing. Joel seemed the most confused. He pushed down his fist down, but it wouldn't move. I then realized that whatever was blocking Joel was small enough to hide behind his fist. The ape seemed to realize this as well, as he brought his arm back. Sure enough there was something in the way. Or rather, someone. A short man stood in his way. Not so much stood as floated, he just hung in the air, not moving at all.  
He was bald, short, but extremely buff and he wore a strange armor and cape. He had his head turned to look at the downed Scipio, who was unconscious behind him and then slowly, oh so slowly, he turned to face the Oozaru, displaying a bloody left eye. He examined the ape like a judge in a bathing suit contest and finally grinned at him. Joel became enraged and was bringing his left foot to kick him when he zanzokened. He reappeared in front of Joel's chest, by his heart. My furry companion didn't have time to react, just time to see the bald guy hit him. He used one fist, one measly, effortless punch to send Joel flying!! And I mean flying. Jin, Aren and I had our jaws dropped in surprise when Joel's massive body soared over us and landed a few miles away!  
The Oozaru's body smacked into the ground at suicidal speeds, whiplashing his neck and leaving him immobilized for a few seconds. Joel roared slightly and then pushed himself up from the ground, looking for his attacker. It wasn't difficult to find him; he wasn't exactly hiding from Joel. He was just confidently hovering toward him. Joel tilted his head to one side before opening his mouth and firing a ki beam from it. The explosion that resulted was awesome, and it threw all three of us off of our feet. I didn't see the bald guy anywhere, so I assumed he'd been hit. Boy did I assume wrong. A ki blast was hurled at Joel, who easily blocked it. Oozaru Joel began to growl ferociously when he saw who sent it. The bald guy hovered inches from Joel's snout, hands on his hips laughing at the Oozaru.  
The oversized ape roared in disgust and then swung a wild fist at him. He didn't move to avoid it this time. Instead, he blocked the large fist with his forearm! Baldy then pushed the fist away, spinning the Oozaru right around, and fired a small ki blast, with his other hand, at the base of Joel's tail.  
Moving surprisingly fast for his size, Joel twisted himself forward, keeping his tail safe, but in his awkward position the ki blast edged across his chest, scarring him. The ape roared in pain and rage as he charged into Baldy yet again. The intended prey zanzokened, causing Joel to stagger forward. Baldy reappeared behind Joel and kicked his gargantuan frame forward causing him to stumble and fall, leaving his tail wide open to attack.  
"Destructo Disk!" was what the bald man cried, and a cylinder of energy formed above his right outstretched palm. He threw the attack with such force that even my sharp vision couldn't catch it in mid flight. The blast cut straight through the base of Joel's tail and, as the fuzzy shaft of the tail fell to the ground, Joel began to shrink and soon he was back to his normal size; blood gushing out of the stump of his tail. The bald man landed in front of Joel's naked and battered body.  
"Amazing..." whispered Jin in awe. I knew how he felt. I had never seen such power or speed in a single entity before, but this man possessed skill and power far beyond our range.  
"As much as I feel that you deserved victory against Scipio, I couldn't let you do it," said Joel's assailant, raising an open palm toward the grounded and unconscious Saiyan, "But imagine what my daughter would say if her fiancé had been killed and I did nothing to prevent it." Before I could stop him, Jin zanzokened between Joel and his would be killer, arms stretched out, preventing the man from getting a clear shot at Joel.  
"Sorry...can't let you do that!" he yelled, as an orange ball of ki appeared in the man's open palm, "He dies by my hand only!" There was a long, tense silence in the air for a while as Jin stood before him defiantly, but then the man clenched his fist making the ball of ki disappear.  
"One Saiyan after another. It hardly seems fair," he said with a chuckle, "I'll spare his life on one condition." He didn't even give Jin a chance to accept. "Scipio seems to want to talk to you. Listen to what he has to say," he said.  
"That's it?" queried Jin. The old timer nodded. Jin glanced over at me before moving to where Scipio lay. I immediately seized his spot between Joel and the old guy.  
Scipio lay in a pool of his own blood quite a ways off from us, but of course I heard them perfectly. Jin stood over his body and stared down at him.  
"What?" he asked, impatiently.  
"Come...closer..." Scipio gasped, clawing weakly at Jin's boots with his good hand. Jin stooped down closer to the fighter's mouth. "Change..." whispered Scipio. Jin was puzzled.  
"Change?" he asked, "change what?" Scipio tilted his head to face Jin.  
"Change..." he repeated, and then with an obvious final effort added, "Now!!!" With that, a white beam erupted from Scipio's lips and hit Jin in the face at point-blank range. Jin's body was pitched into the air and he landed directly in front of me, spasming violently. Scipio's body was also shaking violently.  
"Jin!!" I cried, kneeling down beside him. The bald guy casually made his way to Scipio's body, lifting it over his shoulder when he arrived.  
"Don't worry, your friend is alive," he reassured me, "I can feel his ki. Guess Scipio just wanted to leave something for you to remember him by." I checked Jin's pulse just in case and I gave a sigh of relief when I found it. By the time I looked back, our enemies were gone.  
"Hey, Furion!" called Aren, flying toward me with Joel's body in tow, "Can you explain what just happened here?" I peered back at the desert, which was now almost destroyed, as I heaved Jin's body over my shoulder.  
"Aren, I think we won," was all I could say as I pushed of into the air.  
  
CHARACTERS RECRUITED INITIAL P/LVL  
----------------- -----  
  
SOUNDTRACK: THOUGHTLESS by Korn 


	9. Moving on

Chapter 8: Moving on  
Jeran  
  
I could feel him near me, but I couldn't tell quite where. If only the lights had been better, I might have seen him coming. He came up behind me and. As I pivoted to swing my elbow at him, he zanzokened and he was behind me again. I kicked behind with as much force as I could muster in that awkward position. He easily caught my foot and flipped me forward. I fell flat on my face and a fairly familiar elbow greeted me harshly on the back. All the air was knocked out of my body, quite an unusual occurrence considering all my training, but Furion was an unusual person.  
After he had embarrassed me, he bent down next to me and whispered, "That's game." I nodded, struggling for air, as he stood up and extended a hand in front of me. I grabbed onto it and he hoisted me up.  
"Nice match," he commended, "you've gotten better."  
"You too," I struggled out, "thanks for sparring with me." The Namekian nodded and beckoned to his next opponent, the blue haired martial artist known as Cris, who had been waiting for us to finish up.  
After the battle in Nedan's deserts, everyone had decided to take a break, each for their own reasons. My usual sparring partner, Nikita, stayed at Jin's bedside since Scipio had put him into a coma. She wasn't alone, though. Jin's mother, Janet, stayed at her long lost son's side as well, and she and Nikita both became better acquainted during their time together. The platinum haired transfer student called Ken was busy running around the ship, upgrading all of the scouters to act as communication devices as well. Aren spent most of his time hunting down Jin's sister for a rematch and likewise, she was trying to avoid him. Cris simply didn't want to fight a girl. Only Furion, and his muscular build, was available to spar. Apart from having a powerlevel twice as high as mine he had the advantage of speed, since his body was used to the 20G's that we sparred under; mine wasn't. As I stood there I tried to imagine him as one of those cute Namekian children, but I couldn't.  
"Hey you alright there?" queried Furion, "How's your arm?" I rotated my left arm and gave him a thumbs up.  
"Great. Thanks to the Rejuv tank the burn's completely healed," I reassured him. He nodded and then turned towards his sparring partner.  
I left the training area and went to my room to take a shower and freshen up. After doing this I headed to the bridge to report in to the headmaster. Soon his worried face came on screen.  
"Jeran! Thank Kami! I thought you guys were...." He trailed off, "It's been over a week since the fight. Why haven't you guys reported in?"  
"We were sorta trying to get over everything," I replied, sitting at the pilot's console, "Jin's in a coma and Joel..."  
"What about Joel?" he asked.  
"Well...it's just that he's kept to himself ever since he kicked his way out of a Rejuv tank three days ago. He just went straight to his room and stayed there since. It's not like him to be so... I don't even think he's been eating!" I replied. The worry in my voice must have been amplified by Red's perceptive nature because he smiled suddenly.  
"His fight against the aliens was all over Nedan's news networks up until he turned into an Oozaru and still lost. Don't worry about it. He's probably just upset over the loss of his tail. It's a Saiyan thing," explained Red, "anyway, he's alright. Let's just worry about Jin for the moment. He's been in a coma for a week?" I sighed.  
"The doctors on Nedan said that it wasn't anything serious. He should be up and about in a few days," I told him.  
"That's good. Anyway, you guys just don't forget your assignment. You have exactly eleven months to recruit twenty three more fighters," he stated.  
"Oh! I almost forgot! We have three new recruits!" I exclaimed. The headmaster beamed.  
"Perfect! Now it's just twenty more. You guys are doing a great job. Keep it up. Oh, and Jeran..." he began. I nodded. "Until Jin regains consciousness, you're in command," he finished, right before his face vanished the screen. Yep, we were just one big happy family, I thought, but Joel...  
I rose from my seat and left the bridge, determined to help the Saiyan any way I could. A few minutes later I found myself standing outside his room with a tray of food in my hands. I had previously tried such a tactic but he didn't open the door. He hadn't even answered. This time, however, would be different. I had barely knocked on the door when it flew open.  
"Joel?" I called out, taking a cautious step inside his room. The door slid shut almost as quickly as it had opened. Joel's room represented all that was rebellious. On the walls were posters of various heavy metal bands. He had a wicked looking sound system and CD's literally covered an entire section of the floor. Hooked up to an amp was an electric guitar.  
"What do you want?" came Joel's emotionless voice. I jumped, turning quickly at the sound of his voice. The Saiyan sat cross-legged on the floor, on the opposite side of his unmade bed. He wore a pair of track pants and his long, spiky hair was unnaturally ungroomed, "Can I help you?" he asked.  
"I...um...just brought something for you to eat," I answered timidly.  
"Did you cook it?" he queried, eyeing the tray of food. I turned my gaze to the floor.  
"Yes..." I whispered, afraid that he might burst out laughing like he usually did when I asked him to taste my cooking.  
"Thanks," he stated, liberating the tray from my grasp. I stood there in shock.  
"A-are y-you alright, Joel? You usually don't eat my food," I stated. I had to wait until he had finished devouring the food to get a response.  
"I was just hungry," he said with a loud belch, "anything tastes good when I'm hungry." He must have known that something was bothering me because he then asked, "What's wrong?"  
"Joel, you fought great against Scipio. You should be happy that you were able to last as long as you did against him," I said, causing him to chuckle, "What's so funny?" Joel shook his head.  
"You think that's what's bothering me? I couldn't care less about him. I beat him good in Oozaru mode. No, it's not that," he began. I was confused.  
"If that's not it, then what is?" I inquired, sitting down beside him. Jin sighed and closed his eyes.  
"Jeran, you've never had to wonder about your lineage, your family. They've always been there for you and you knew that because that's what families do," he continued, "I've never known that. My earliest memory is of the academy and the closest thing I've had to family is Jin." He gave a sudden laugh. "Ironic isn't it? My greatest rival is my only real friend. But even Jin has a family, something to hold on to. It was my defining characteristic, my only claim to an identity and now...it's gone, and I'm not even sure it'll grow back. That's what that bald-headed freak, Obsidian, took from me!" I was amazed that Joel, of all people, could be so...deep. I knew that I felt something for him. I'd have to be foolish not to realize it, but I didn't think I should; after all, Joel was supposed to be a monster. He, himself, had admitted the fact. He had sold Jin into a world of pain and agony. His value for the lives of others was almost nonexistent, and yet...he had saved mine.  
I sat there, next to him, unsure of how to proceed. I wanted to tell him, I really did, but he would most likely just laugh at me straight to my face. He was that type of person. Yet, there was this side of Joel who actually poured out his thoughts to me. As hard as I tried I couldn't think of a single thing to say about the matter.  
"Um...it was really nice of you to fight in Nikita's place," I said, finally, causing him to look at me, "I mean you could have let her fight, but you knew she was scared and decided to fight despite the large difference in power." Joel stretched his legs forward and leaned back. It was only then that I noticed the scar across his chest.  
"I only fought because I knew I'd win. I'm a Saiyan. We fight because we were born to. There was no other reason," he said. I smiled at his modesty and he caught himself before he could blush. I rose to my feet, gathering the empty tray in my hands, and looked down at him.  
"Joel, the headmaster put me in charge until Jin regains consciousness. I don't think I'm up to it...why don't you..." I started, but he interrupted me right there.  
"No, he gave it to you...and I'm a wreck. And besides," he said with a smile; not his usual grin or smirk, but a real honest to goodness smile, "I can't think of anyone better for the job." This time I blushed and I hurriedly exited the room and hurried along the curved corridor before he could see. He poked his head out of the door and gazed after me. "Hey Jeran!" he called in a serious tone, "There's something I have to tell you." I felt a sudden glimmer of hope in me as my heart skipped a beat.  
"Y-yes, Joel," I answered, not turning to face him because my face was bright red.  
"Your food still tastes like cow manure," he said, with a teasing grin. The heavens bowed before the might of my wrath as I chucked the food tray at him, catching him straight in the face and sending him crashing to the floor. "Oww..." he cried, his form twitching slightly on the ground.  
"Jerk!" I hissed, walking away in anger as he sat up and rubbed his nose in pain, "He really hadn't changed a bit."  
I went back to the arena and observed Cris and Furion as they went at each other with all they had. Cris was a curious martial artist. He had absolutely no ki attacks; actually, he couldn't use any ki at all, yet he held his own against Furion even better than I could.  
After watching them for an hour I decided to go and visit our leader. Julia and Ken had joined Janet and Nikita.  
"Hey all," I called, "how's Jin?" The comatose Saiyan lay on his bed, his eyes closed and his breathing easy.  
"Resting peacefully," answered Janet, stroking her son's cheek, "He's been making slight movements all day. That's a good sign." Nikita nodded in agreement.  
"I just spoke with the headmaster. He's glad everyone's alright, but he feels that we should continue our journey," I told them, "as soon as Jin wakes up we'll leave Nedan to search for recruits."  
"I know that Justin will go with you. I wish he could stay for a while though. Knowing my boy's alive will make me miss him even more," stated Janet, sadly. Ken, who had been sitting in a corner fiddling around with a scouter, looked up just then.  
"Then why don't you come along with us?" he suggested, "I guess that'd solve everything, after all, Julia's coming as well." Nikita was pleased with the idea.  
"Yeah Janet, that's a great idea. I know that Jin would like it," she said. Jin's mother sat silently for a few minutes, considering the idea.  
"I think...I think I will!" she exclaimed, "To tell the truth, I was a bit concerned that there are no adults with you all. Well, now that that's settled there are some preparations..." A sound cut her off.  
"Ugh...oh," came Jin's voice. We all jumped and hurriedly gathered around the bed as Jin slowly opened his eyes. Nikita appeared to be the most relieved.  
"Jin! Are you okay? How are you feeling?" she asked quickly. The dark skinned martial artist rubbed his forehead and we gave him room to sit up.  
"I feel...fine," replied Jin. He said it almost as if he were surprised. He turned and hung his legs off the side of his bed. Ken was the first to realize that something was wrong.  
"You sure you're alright, bro?" he asked. The Saiyan had a glazed, childish look and he stared at each of us with a quizzical expression on his face.  
"I'm fine...but," he began.  
"But?" urged Nikita. Jin seemed hesitant to continue.  
"I can't seem to remember..." he said finally, "who...who are you people?"  
  
CHARACTERS RECRUITED INITIAL P/LVL  
CRIS 10,737  
JULIA 6, 691  
JANET: nf 2  
  
Nf: Not a fighter.  
  
SOUNDTRACK: INTAKE by Tripped and Falling. (;; Finally my band makes an appearance on the soundtrack!). 


	10. Freaky Friday

Chapter 9: Freaky Friday  
Jin  
  
I woke up groggily, not an unusual occurrence, and slowly rose myself to a sitting position. I could hear someone give a startled cry and I turned toward the sound. There were five people in the room and they hurriedly gathered around me. My eyes took a long time to gain focus and when they did it still took me a while to realize that I knew none of them. I scooted out of the bed that I had occupied and took refuge in the corner, where I could see them all.  
There were three men and two girls. One of the guys slowly came forward.  
"Scipio, are you alright?" he queried, gripping my shoulder. I immediately shrugged his hand off, giving me a surprise when I saw mine. My skin was pale! As I gazed at my hand in shock, one of the girls spoke.  
"Scipio! What's wrong?" she cried in a concerned voice.  
"Well, let's see," I began in a voice that was not my own, "I'm trying to remember the exact moment that I changed into a TALL WHITE GUY!!!" I looked at her. She was about my age, with platinum coloured hair that fell over her shoulders. She wore a long white dress and I observed an S shaped mark on her upper arm. Her face had a familiar look and I soon knew why. This girl looked almost exactly like Ken! However, this was not what surprised me. It was the name she called me. "Wait a minute? Did you just call me Scipio!? What the hell is going on here!?" I screamed, my eyes darting frantically from her to the guy standing in front of me. I had awoken in a strange place, with people who I had never seen before in my life. I was pretty freaked out and I instantly took a fighting stance and kept my eyes focused on them.  
"You two, take the ladies outside," the man ordered his companions at the door, "I'll see to Scipio." I grew angry.  
"I'm not Scipio!!!" I yelled after they left. The man backed away and sat on a stool beside the bed. He gestured to a mirror on the opposite wall.  
"You aren't? See for yourself," he said. I did just that and was even more traumatized when I saw Scipio's face in the mirror instead of my own.  
"I...I am..." I whispered, "but how!!?" I was about to argue further but the guy cut me off.  
"Relax, I know that you aren't Scipio," he said, "Sit down. You do want an explanation, don't you?" I nodded and slowly sat on the bed. "My name's Brass, by the way. Scipio's my brother. He used a technique called Body Change on you. Right now, he should be waking up in your body, wherever it is," he stated calmly. Well that would certainly explain a whole lot, but there was still a very important question I needed to ask.  
"Why, huh? Why me? What does Scipio hope to accomplish using my body?" I asked. Brass gave a sigh and lowered his head.  
"We are on a spaceship called the Odine. This ship is, literally, as big as a planet and there are over one hundred million people aboard it. We're salvagers. Our own planet was destroyed a while ago so this is our new home. We also make it our jobs to help out people like us...so we assist in the evacuation of dying worlds," Brass explained, "the place is kinda crowded, if you know what I mean, so it goes to reason that a disease would spread like wild fire if someone was infected. A month ago Scipio and I encountered some infected beings while on a salvaging mission. We were forced to defend ourselves and due to the close contact we were infected." He looked up at me and smiled.  
"What?" I asked. He shook his head and continued.  
"The disease spread and our scientists were at a loss as to what to do to create a cure. It was then that we picked up transmissions from the planet Nedan about them having a cure. We contacted them pleading for assistance but the ignored us. We figured that they hadn't received our transmissions so we went to the planet ourselves, in hopes that we would be helped, but the mayor refused to share with us. We grew desperate. Lord Obsidian, our leader, resorted to using threats to get them to hand over the cure," he went on. I brought a hand to my chin in deep thought. Why would Jeran's father refuse to help these people? It made no sense to me so I kept silent on the issue.  
"That explains what Scipio was doing on Nedan," I said, "but you still haven't answered my question."  
"Scipio didn't like Lord Obsidian's...destructive...methods, so we came up with another plan that we kept from our leader. He gave the mayor time to gather fighters to try to defeat us. Then he would steal one of their bodies and infect it with the disease. Then we would retreat and make it look like we lost, so that they would give him the cure. After that, all Scipio had to do was return to us where we could extract the antibodies from the stolen body," he finished, "Scipio's supposed to fake amnesia with your people so he wouldn't sell himself out. That boy couldn't act to save his life." I took this all in rather calmly and, although I was extremely upset about the whole body change thing, I found that, strangely enough, I believed Brass.  
"You know, one of my friends is the mayor's daughter. We could get her to confront him about it. Then this entire body switching thing won't be necessary," I suggested, "Let me contact my friends, we'll get to the bottom of this." Brass smiled again.  
"Young people, they're so naïve. What makes you think a politician will listen to a kid, even if it's his daughter? And besides, if we did that Lord Obsidian would find out and punish us, even if we did get the cure," he said. I sighed. I guess I was going to have to play along for now.  
"Alright," I said finally, "So should I fake amnesia as well?" He shook his head vigorously.  
"No, that'd be too suspicious. Lord Obsidian is still confused about your coma even after we gave you a senzu bean," he replied.  
"A what bean?" I inquired.  
"Scipio's body was pretty banged up when Lord Obsidian brought you in. that was just a week ago...you catch my drift yet?" he said, rising to his feet. Hey! He had a point! Joel had literally crushed Scipio's body, breaking almost every bone and leaving his body badly deformed and beaten, but I couldn't even feel a broken bone!  
Brass pulled out a small sack and tossed it to me. I looked at its contents and saw that it was filled with weird looking beans.  
"One bean can heal all of your injuries and entirely restore your ki," he explained, "It's the only reason we're all still alive. Eating a bean seems to dampen the effects of the disease." I pulled a senzu bean from the sack and scrutinized it.  
"Seems too farfetched," I stated, "well I guess I could play Scipio for a while. Can you give me an idea of how to act?" "Scipio's nineteen years old, his personality is non-existent and he's probably the most aloof person you'll ever meet. The only people he really lightens up for are his fiancé, Treasure, and our sister, Mei," Brass told me. I raised an eyebrow. "What about you? I mean, you two are brothers," I asked. He gave a loud laugh and headed for the door. "Long story. There are some clothes in the closet. I'm going to send Treasure in," he replied, "Oh! One more thing. You're gonna see some strange things on this ship. Try not to act too surprised." He gave me another smile and then left. I searched the closet and found armor similar to the one that Brass wore. "This is some weird shit," I said, donning the armor. After I dressed, I stood in front of the mirror and observed myself. "I wonder how Niki's doing." I muttered to myself.  
"Scipio?" called a timid voice. I whirled around and saw the platinum haired girl from before. Brass told me it was alright to come in," she said, "are you alright?" Hmm...how would Scipio have answered that? I decided to use my own dry, nonchalant tone.  
"If you mean that moment of dementia I had a while ago," I answered, "I'm over it." Treasure suddenly ran into my arms.  
"You had me so worried, Scipio!" she cried, latching her arms around my neck, sobbing, "When daddy brought you in you were in such bad shape that I thought..." I didn't exactly feel comfortable holding someone other than Nikita this way and especially, to make matters worse, someone who looked like Ken. It just felt sick and wrong. Well, I suppose if I had never seen Ken in my entire life I wouldn't have had that problem. She was beautiful, but the resemblance was uncanny; not to mention she had the same marking on her arm that he did. Then I thought of Scipio holding Nikita like this and I released Treasure. "Scipio?" she started, but I placed my index finger on her lips, preventing her from continuing.  
"Treasure, your face is the best thing I've seen since I've been on that stupid planet," I told her. She smiled at me and once again rested her face on my chest.  
"I'm glad you feel that way," she said, "I was hoping that you would tell me about your battle." I used this opportunity to get her off of me and I sat with her on the bed, trying my best to describe the battle from Scipio's point of view.  
"A giant monkey!?" she exclaimed, when I was finished, "How did you survive that?" I wracked my brain trying to remember her father's name.  
"Um...Lord Obsidian saved me," I replied. Before she could say anything else Brass came in with a little girl behind him. She couldn't have been more than ten years old.  
"Look who's come to visit," said Brass, gently pushing the girl toward me. I was about to ask Brass who she was; not a very smart move, but Treasure saved me the trouble.  
"Little Mei, you came to see your brother. And what's this?" she stated. Mei came up to me and held out a card. I took it from her and a smile crossed my lips. It was a homemade 'get well soon' card. The card made me remember when Julia made cards like this for me long ago.  
"Thank you, Mei," I said, passing a hand through her hair. So far, Scipio's life was actually pretty okay. "I like it a lot," I added. Brass stepped forward.  
"Treasure, can you keep an eye on Mei for us? Scipio and I are needed on tier sixty three," he asked. Treasure nodded.  
"Sure," she replied, "I know you took a senzu, Scipio, but I still want you to take it easy, okay?" As soon as we vacated the room I let out a deep sigh.  
"Thanks for getting me out of there," I told Brass, "Man, she is aggressive." We walked down a long winding corridor and entered an elevator before he said anything.  
"She really loves Scipio," Brass replied, "Your discomfort with her leads me to believe that you already have someone special in your life." I nodded.  
"By the way, what's tier sixty three?" I asked.  
"It's the arena," he answered, turning toward me, "I'm curious. I would like to find out how good a fighter you really are." I cracked my knuckles.  
"You may get more than you bargained for, Brass," I told him dryly. The elevator ceased moving and we came out into another corridor.  
When Brass said that the Odine was crowded I thought he was exaggerating, but what I saw made me see that he wasn't. The corridor was brimming with people, mostly children. They were all running all over the place playing some sort of ball game. We stood there for several minutes before anyone realized we were there. The seemingly endless chattering gave way to an uncomfortable silence as they all cleared a path for us by shuffling quickly to the sides of the corridor. Brass pushed me forward gently and we made our way to another elevator. I peered at these people as we walked. They were all staring at me and if I didn't know any better I'd have thought they feared me. Wait a second; did I know any better? Before I could ask Brass, one child, who apparently wasn't alerted to our presence ran right into me. I staggered backward in surprise and the kid bounced off of me and landed hard on the floor. My first instinct was to see if the boy was alright, but Brass lay a firm hand on my shoulder before I could do so. He took a menacing step forward.  
"Why don't you watch where you're going, ya little punk!" he growled. The poor kid crawled backwards in fear.  
"I-I'm sorry sir! I didn't see Lord Scipio," he stuttered. Brass took another step toward the boy.  
"Silence! Such insolence will not be tolerated! You say you're sorry. You're not, but you will be!" he shouted. He brought his foot forward fast at the child, but I easily intercepted it with my own.  
"Enough Brass!" I ordered, my foot still blocking his, "leave him alone!" The look of surprise on his face caught me off guard. It was obvious, judging from Brass' reaction that Scipio had never challenged his authority before. With a snarl, he pushed past the child and continued along the corridor, I followed him and soon we were on the second elevator. There was an awkward silence as the elevator climbed tiers swiftly and, only when we came off into another corridor Brass broke the silence.  
"Don't make it a habit to undermine my authority," he said, "Scipio does it all to often and I'm sick and tired of it." I grinned. So I had done exactly what Scipio would have.  
Two elevator rides later we arrived on tier sixty-three. It was amazing. For as far as the eye could see there were there were hundreds of battles going on and I could feel that everyone in this huge arena had a powerlevel way higher than my own!  
"To get a better idea of your abilities I've set up some tests for you," Brass said, gesturing for me to follow him.  
"What kind of tests?" I asked hastily. He gave me a look that seemed to say 'you'll see'. He guided me over to an area that had a large circular pattern on the floor. As soon as I steeped into the circle, a huge cage fell around me. "What the!?" I cried, instinctively taking my fighting stance.  
"Bring out the Saibamen!" cried Brass. All of a sudden four small circles that were in the big one opened up and four of the most hideous creatures I had ever seen in my entire life jumped out of them. Their scaly skin was dark brown and they possessed claws instead of fingers and toes. The back of their heads reminded me of the human brain and it disgusted me. I didn't have time to puke because they all leapt at me. Immediately I brought forth my aura and intensified it, sending them all flying back into the metal bars of the cage. Before they could recover I dealt each one a finishing blow, lopping one's head off with a punch, bisecting another with a sweep kick and the remaining Saibamen exploded upon contact with my fists.  
I noticed people gathering around the cage with interest as another batch of the ugly critters jumped out from the holes. This time their skin was pale green. I threw a glance at Brass who had a smile one his face.  
"Give them a good show brother," he said as more people came over to watch. Cracking my knuckles, I smiled to myself. I'd give these people a show.  
I defeated a grand total of three hundred Saibamen before Brass had the cage lifted.  
"You're a skillful fighter," commended Brass, leading me to a larger part of the arena, "Now let's see if you're a strong fighter."  
"You'd have to be a lot better than those Saibamen," I laughed. We had our own private audience as we faced off. I took my stance and Brass took his, which interested me because I had never seen it before. It reminded me of Muay Thai.  
I took the initiative and charged into Brass, a very big mistake, as I was soon to find out. I began to throw super fast punches at him but he simply parried the first punch and retaliated with a rain of punches and kicks that seemed to come from all directions. At first I had no problem defending against them, but after a while he just overwhelmed me with attacks and I just couldn't block or dodge any of them all. To make a short story extremely shorter, I got plain beat up.  
It was when I was trying to pick myself off of the floor that it happened. A small pain that I had earlier associated with one of Brass' punches grew significantly and I began a coughing fit. Blood gushed out of my mouth from behind my clenched teeth and, to make matters worse, I found that I couldn't breathe. This was the first time in a long time that I felt truly afraid. Tears mixed with the blood collecting on the floor in front of me as I sobbed like a baby, fearing that I was going to die. I didn't even notice when Brass forced one of those senzu beans down my throat but when it began to work on my body I could feel all the pain just disappear! Even the bruises that Brass had given to me himself were gone!  
My body was now as good as new but my mind just couldn't get of the shock of the near death experience. The only thing that I had on my mind was Nikita and it took me a while before I could even speak.  
"Are you alright?" asked Brass, who seemed sincerely concerned. I ignored the question.  
"Is that what the disease does to a person?" I managed to whisper. Brass gave a solemn nod. "Well let's pray to Kami that Scipio gets that cure soon. For everyone's sakes."  
  
CHARACTERS RECRUITED INITIAL P/LVL  
-------------- ------  
  
SOUNDTRACK: SYNTHETIC by Spineshank 


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